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Scholarships? Part-time Jobs?
That Is the Question.
 
 
By Jung Hyun-young, Tribune Reporter
 
 
 
Korean university tuition fees are ranked the second most expensive following the U.S. Many students need to take part-time jobs for financial reasons such as coming up with tuition fees. A recent survey result by Albacheonkook, a famous Korean staffing agency, showed that more university students in 2011 emphasize that higher wages are the primary concern when they take a part-time job, compared to last year when a fair number of students worked part-time to gain social experience for their career.
Then, how is the situation for students at Chonnam National University (CNU)? The Chonnam Tribune conducted a survey in October of 212 CNU students to find out the reasons why they work part-time, and how many CNUians do so to manage financial difficulties such as tuition fees and living expenses. According to the result, many CNUians take part-time jobs as an alternative to scholarships to solve their financial difficulties. 17.9 percent of respondents answered that they take a part-time job to earn tuition fees or so they can afford their own living expenses. 76.9 percent of respondents answered that getting a scholarship is better than having a part-time job because they have a fair opportunity to win scholarships and it is difficult to work part-time jobs during the semester. Fortunately, the number of scholarships by provided CNU has been increasing every year despite the freezing of tuition fees for three years. According to the official statistics from the Office of Student Affairs at CNU, the total number of enrolled students with scholarships was about 67 percent and the total amount of scholarships was approximately 40 percent of tuition fees.
In the survey, however, only 27.4 percent of respondents answered “Yes” to the question, “Are you satisfied with CNU’s scholarship system?”. 57.5 percent of respondents answered that finding a part-time job is easier than getting a scholarship because it is unclear whether they would qualify for a scholarship. It seems that CNU's scholarship system is not enough to help some students with financial difficulty. A CNU student said, “I think that studying is more efficient than working part-time for making money, but I cannot help but work part-time because I cannot financially depend on my parents all the time. I am a little concerned that if this situation keeps going on, I may be forced to leave school.” Although CNU has provided considerable financial support for students in the form of diverse scholarship programs, some people say that scholarships are too small and complain about the limited or double beneficiary of scholarship programs.
Now students are worrying about tuition fees increasing next semester. A scholarship student said, “Every semester I am concerned about whether I can get a scholarship.” Of course students try to find a better solution to manage financial difficulties by either getting scholarships or working part-time. The university administration should also continue to enlarge the scholarship system for its students in order to reduce their economic burden. CNU needs to create new and ideal scholarships to prevent students suspending their studies at university due to financial reasons.
저작권자 © Chonnam Tribune 무단전재 및 재배포 금지