Universities turn to open majors to help international students adjust

A 23-year-old Chinese student in her senior year at Korea University's (KU) School of Interdisciplinary Studies said having time to explore different subjects helped her decide what she wanted to study.

KU’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies is one of three open-major divisions open to international students at the university. The division is open to both Korean and non-Korean students.

“I started studying at KU’s Korean Language Center after graduating high school and, as a student who was still stuck in the mindset of a high school student, I couldn’t quickly make up my mind about which path I wanted to take,” she said, adding that she mostly took common core courses while adjusting to university life as a freshman.

“I highly recommend the program for international students like me who haven’t been able to definitely choose their majors,” she said.

As Korean universities seek to attract more international students, a growing number are giving them a year to explore majors while using the time to help them adjust to studying in Korea.

The approach adapts the broader open-major system, which allows students to enter university without immediately choosing a field of study.

While the system gives students more freedom to explore their interests, universities are adding Korean-language and general education courses to help international students overcome the academic and cultural barriers they may face.

The latest to launch such an open-major division dedicated to international students is Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech), which opened its Global School of Liberal Studies earlier this year.

KU operates multiple open-major tracks international students can enroll in including its Global Open Major Division established in 2023 exclusively for international students.

Similar programs are also found at Pukyong National University and Soonchunhyang University in Asan, South Chungcheong.

Yet as more campuses expand the program, a critical question emerges: Beyond giving international students extra time to adapt and explore, do these programs genuinely help them adapt and thrive in Korea?

A year to adjust and explore

For international students, the first year is usually a period of adjustment to a new language, education system and culture, and open-major programs offer students that space within the division’s official curricula.

“The Korean language and culture classes offered to freshmen under the open-major program are helpful for students to adjust to university life in Korea more flexibly,” said Tan Lihua, a freshman at Pukyong National University, from Japan.

International students enrolled in Pukyong National University’s Division of Global & Interdisciplinary Studies are required to take common core courses such as academic Korean and Korean history before choosing a major in their sophomore year.

“The language and cultural education also helped develop a third perspective in understanding my home country,” Lihua added.

“This experience is helpful not only for personal growth, but in terms of broadening perspectives for choosing future career paths.”

Starting next year, the university plans to establish a department exclusively for international students, after which international students currently enrolled in the program will be assigned to it.

SeoulTech’s Global School of Liberal Studies takes a similar approach, combining major exploration with courses such as Academic Korean, practical Korean communication and introductory classes in subjects including calculus, physics, chemistry and computer science in the freshmen year.

Universities say the programs are designed not simply to delay students’ major selection but to give international students time to overcome the language and academic barriers they may face when entering Korea’s higher education system.

“Even students who have Topik Level 3 often need additional help with Korean,” a SeoulTech spokesperson said.

Park Nam-gi, an emeritus professor at Gwangju National University of Education, said passing a Korean-language test does not necessarily mean students can comfortably participate in university classes.

“Even if students pass the Korean-language test, many still have difficulty communicating in class and writing reports in Korean,” Prof. Park said.

A matter of integration

While there is growing interest among international students on enrolling in open-major programs offered at Korean universities, there are still debates on whether open-major departments exclusive to international students could serve the initial purpose of helping international students adapt to campus life in Korea more smoothly.

The key for successfully operating open-major programs for international students is how well international students can integrate with their Korean peers, according to Prof. Park.

“It’s fine to have separate Korean-language classes, but major and general education classes should be taken together,” Prof. Park said. “If all their classes are separate, they may not get what they came to Korea to experience.”

The concern is also shared by students in the programs themselves.

Christian Sharon Hanrin, a 20-year-old Indonesian student at Pukyong National University’s Division of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies, said maintaining opportunities to interact with Korean students is important to the program's value.

“If my department continues to value exchanges with Korean students and Korean culture, I highly recommend it for students who wish to come and study in Korea,” she said.

The expansion of open-major programs for international students coincides with the country's broader push to give students more flexibility in choosing their fields of study.

The Ministry of Education has encouraged universities to expand the model, recommending in 2024 that up to 25 percent of students be admitted through open-major programs. The number of students enrolled in such programs increased more than fourfold in 2025 from the previous year.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [[email protected]]