Korea's higher education spending lags behind OECD average
Published: 09 Sep. 2025, 19:25
Updated: 10 Sep. 2025, 08:55
![A graduate adjusts his mortarboard at the 79th summer commencement ceremony at Seoul National University in southern Seoul on Aug. 28. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/09/10/94544274-fba8-4d29-9215-2dce288d3291.jpg)
A graduate adjusts his mortarboard at the 79th summer commencement ceremony at Seoul National University in southern Seoul on Aug. 28. [YONHAP]
Korea continues to lag behind other member states of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in higher education investment, while wage gaps by education level widen, government data showed Tuesday.
The Ministry of Education released the results of the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2025 report, which compares education spending and performance across 49 countries, including 38 OECD members.
Per-student spending in Korean higher education — universities and graduate schools — remains below the OECD average.
In 2022, Korea spent $14,695 per higher education student, up 8 percent from a year earlier, but it is only 68.6 percent of the OECD average of $21,444.
Korea outspent the OECD average in elementary education at $19,749 and middle and high school education $25,267, compared with OECD averages of $12,730 and $21,444.
The figures account for teacher salaries, scholarships, research and development costs and other public and private investment in schools.
"Korea’s higher education system faces a financial crisis due to tuition caps in place for 17 years and disproportionate funding for primary and secondary education," said Yang O-bong, the chairman of the Korean Council for University Education. “We need a major increase in higher education funding to strengthen national competitiveness, especially in training AI talent.”
Korea’s rate of higher education attainment among young adults has ranked first in the OECD for 17 consecutive years. But the data also show that wage gaps by education level have widened.
In 2024, 70.6 percent of Koreans aged 25 to 34 held a higher education degree, the highest among OECD countries. The OECD average was 48.4 percent.
Despite the high attainment rate, Korea’s employment rate for that age group was 76.1 percent, below the OECD average of 79 percent.
![Social welfare graduates celebrate the 2025 summer degree conferment ceremony by tossing their mortarboards into the air for a commemorative photo at Sungkyunkwan University in central Seoul on Aug. 25. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/09/10/f7d1c915-834b-4a1d-93f9-d7d1fcd20f24.jpg)
Social welfare graduates celebrate the 2025 summer degree conferment ceremony by tossing their mortarboards into the air for a commemorative photo at Sungkyunkwan University in central Seoul on Aug. 25. [YONHAP]
The wage gap by education level grew slightly compared to 2023. With a base of 100 for the wage of a high school graduate, a junior college graduate in Korea earned 109.9 percent, a four-year university graduate 132.5 percent and someone with a graduate degree 176.3 percent in 2023. In 2022, the figures were 109.2 percent for junior college graduates, 132.5 percent for university graduates and 176 percent for graduate degree holders.
“After the pandemic, capital flowed into new industries such as information technology and AI, where highly educated workers are concentrated, which widened wage gaps by education level,” said Park Ju-hyung, a professor at Gyeongin National University of Education.
Bae Sang-hoon, an education professor at Sungkyunkwan University, said Korea’s labor market structure exacerbates the problem.
“Because a prestigious university degree carries such a premium, graduates naturally enter the primary labor market where wages are higher,” Bae said. “If the wage gap grows too wide, it could worsen polarization and undermine social cohesion.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE BO-RAM [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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