Universities need to do more to support international students

Internationalization is now essential for Korean universities, but the 2027 Korea Times University Rankings show they still need more support for international students. The 60 universities were evaluated on 19 indicators across education, research, student support and graduate outcomes. Student support and graduate outcomes were the weakest areas, and The Korea Times plans to add more indicators in future assessments.

The rankings covered 60 universities using 19 indicators in four categories: education, research, student support and graduate outcomes.

Universities were assessed on a 200-point scale, with 70 points for education, 50 for research, and 40 each for student support and graduate outcomes.

The student support category averaged 14.84 points out of 40, or 37.1 percent of the maximum possible score.

Graduate outcomes averaged 12.85 points out of 40, or 32.1 percent, which was the weakest category overall.

The Korea Times plans to expand next year’s assessment by adding indicators on settlement infrastructure for international faculty and students and international research diversity, and from 2028 it will also add satisfaction surveys and outcome tracking for international graduates.

Published Sep 18, 2026 12:02 am KST

Updated Sep 18, 2026 2:31 pm KST

Foreign faculty emerges as weak spot in university globalization

International students walk across the campus of a university in Seoul, Sept. 10. Yonhap

Internationalization is no longer an option for Korean universities but a necessity for their survival, as the nation’s higher education system faces an unprecedented structural transformation.

Yet The Korea Times University Rankings 2027 reveal a stark reality: Korean universities still have a long way to go to achieve full-fledged internationalization.

Universities have met the basic requirements for internationalization. But investment in faculty recruitment and student support has failed to keep pace with the increasing number of international students, while graduate outcomes remain weak.

The Korea Times launched the university rankings last year to assess the level of internationalization among domestic universities.

This year’s rankings covered 60 universities using 19 indicators in four categories: education, research, student support and graduate outcomes.

Universities were assessed on a 200-point scale, with 70 points allocated to education, 50 points to research, 40 points to student support and 40 points to graduate outcomes.

The education category saw the strongest overall performance, with the 60 universities averaging 35.97 points out of 70, 51.4 percent of the maximum possible score. Scores also varied less widely than in the other three categories.

The figures show that Korean universities have made tangible progress in recruiting international students and providing them with educational programs. Yet they still have room for improvement in the education category.

The newly introduced indicator measuring the proportion of international full-time faculty showed relatively weak performance, with universities averaging 33.3 percent of the maximum possible score.

The indicator suggests that most universities have yet to hire a sufficient number of international faculty members, despite the increase in international students.

The Korea Times evaluation team noted that a university’s efforts to hire international faculty can serve as an indicator of its broader commitment to internationalization.

Another problem is the low proportion of research funding from overseas sources.

In the research category, the 60 universities averaged 22.31 points out of 50, equivalent to 44.6 percent of the maximum possible score. Performance was notably weaker in the share of research funding from overseas sources, where universities averaged 27.4 percent of the maximum.

This suggests that only a small number of universities have developed international research networks capable of securing research funding from abroad.

Notably, 22 of the 60 universities were found to have received no research funding from foreign governments or overseas institutions.

To address this problem, experts recommend that universities forge substantive research partnerships with international research institutions and companies to attract research funding from overseas.

Universities were also found to have made insufficient efforts to support international students.

Performance was relatively weak in the student support category, with universities averaging 14.84 points out of 40, 37.1 percent of the maximum possible score.

This raises questions about whether universities have established adequate financial support and other systems to help international students continue their studies and establish stable lives in Korea.

Graduate outcomes showed the weakest overall performance, with universities averaging 12.85 points out of 40, 32.1 percent of the maximum possible score — the lowest among the four categories. The category also recorded the widest gap in scores across universities.

The education category measures the “entrance” — how well universities are equipped to recruit international students. By contrast, the graduate outcomes category measures the “exit” — how successfully these students transition into society after graduation.

This year’s assessment shows that the gap between universities is narrowing at the entrance but remains wide at the exit.

The findings demonstrate that universities have established systems to attract international students, but financial investment to help them remain enrolled, complete their studies and successfully transition after graduation has yet to reach a sufficient level.

The paradigm of university internationalization is shifting from “how many international students a university can attract” to “how well it can help them graduate.”

To better evaluate the internationalization of Korean higher education, The Korea Times plans to expand the scope of next year’s assessment by adding indicators on settlement infrastructure for international faculty and students as well as international research diversity.

From 2028 onward, it also plans to further broaden the evaluation to include satisfaction surveys of international students and tracking of the outcomes of international graduates.

国际化如今对韩国大学至关重要，但2027年《韩国时报》大学排名显示，韩国大学在为国际学生提供支持方面仍需加强。该排名从教育、科研、学生支持和毕业生就业等19项指标对60所大学进行了评估。学生支持和毕业生就业是排名中最薄弱的环节，《韩国时报》计划在未来的评估中增加更多指标。

该排名涵盖了 60 所大学，使用了 19 项指标，分为四个类别：教育、研究、学生支持和毕业生成果。

大学按 200 分制进行评估，其中教育 70 分，研究 50 分，学生支持和毕业生成果各 40 分。

学生支持类别的平均得分为 14.84 分（满分 40 分），即最高可能得分的 37.1%。

毕业生就业情况平均得分为 12.85 分（满分 40 分），即 32.1%，是所有类别中最弱的。

《韩国时报》计划在明年扩大评估范围，增加国际教职工和学生的安置基础设施以及国际研究多样性等指标；从 2028 年起，还将增加国际毕业生的满意度调查和成果跟踪。

发布于2026年9月18日凌晨12:02（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年9月18日下午2:31（韩国标准时间）

外籍教师队伍成为大学全球化进程中的薄弱环节

9月10日，国际学生走过首尔一所大学的校园。（韩联社）

对于韩国大学而言，国际化不再是一种选择，而是生存的必然选择，因为该国的高等教育体系正面临前所未有的结构性变革。

然而，《韩国时报》2027 年大学排名揭示了一个严峻的现实：韩国大学在实现全面国际化方面还有很长的路要走。

大学已满足国际化的基本要求。但对教师招聘和学生支持的投入未能跟上国际学生人数增长的步伐，毕业生就业前景依然不佳。

《韩国时报》去年推出了大学排名，以评估韩国国内大学的国际化程度。

今年的排名涵盖了 60 所大学，使用了 19 项指标，分为四个类别：教育、研究、学生支持和毕业生成果。

大学按 200 分制进行评估，其中 70 分分配给教育，50 分分配给研究，40 分分配给学生支持，40 分分配给毕业生成果。

教育类院校的整体表现最为出色，60所院校的平均得分为35.97分（满分70分），达到最高分的51.4%。与其他三个类别相比，教育类院校的得分差异也较小。

数据显示，韩国大学在招收国际学生和为他们提供教育项目方面取得了显著进展。然而，在教育质量方面，它们仍有提升空间。

新推出的衡量国际全职教师比例的指标表现相对较弱，大学平均得分仅为最高可能得分的 33.3%。

该指标表明，尽管国际学生人数增加，但大多数大学尚未聘用足够数量的国际教师。

《韩国时报》评估小组指出，一所大学在聘请国际教师方面的努力可以作为其对国际化更广泛承诺的一个指标。

另一个问题是来自海外的研究经费比例较低。

在研究类别中，60所大学的平均得分为22.31分（满分50分），相当于最高分的44.6%。海外研究经费占比方面的表现尤为疲软，大学平均仅占最高分的27.4%。

这表明，只有少数大学建立了能够从国外获得研究经费的国际研究网络。

值得注意的是，60所大学中有22所被发现没有从外国政府或海外机构获得任何研究经费。

为了解决这个问题，专家建议大学与国际研究机构和公司建立实质性的研究伙伴关系，以吸引海外的研究资金。

调查还发现，各大学在支持国际学生方面做得不够。

在学生支持类别中，表现相对较弱，大学平均得分为 14.84 分（满分 40 分），仅为最高可能得分的 37.1%。

这就引发了人们的疑问：韩国大学是否已建立足够的财政支持和其他制度，以帮助国际学生继续学业并在韩国建立稳定的生活。

毕业生就业情况总体表现最差，各大学平均得分仅为12.85分（满分40分），仅占总分的32.1%，在四个类别中得分最低。此外，该类别各大学之间的得分差距也最大。

教育类别衡量的是“入学”——即大学招收国际学生的能力。与之相对，毕业生就业情况类别衡量的是“毕业”——即这些学生毕业后融入社会的成功程度。

今年的评估显示，大学入学时的差距正在缩小，但毕业时的差距仍然很大。

研究结果表明，大学已经建立了吸引国际学生的体系，但帮助他们继续入学、完成学业并在毕业后成功过渡的财政投入尚未达到足够的水平。

大学国际化的范式正在从“一所大学能吸引多少国际学生”转变为“它能多大程度上帮助他们毕业”。

为了更好地评估韩国高等教育的国际化程度，《韩国时报》计划扩大明年的评估范围，增加有关国际教职工和学生定居基础设施以及国际研究多样性的指标。

从 2028 年起，该机构还计划进一步扩大评估范围，包括对国际学生的满意度调查和国际毕业生的就业情况跟踪。