Home > National > K-campus

SNU courts Vietnamese talent with scholarships, programs to offset engineering brain drain

Published: 30 Sep. 2025, 15:10 Updated: 30 Sep. 2025, 17:11

LEE TAE-HEE
[email protected]

Hwang Won-tae, Vice Dean of International Affairs at Seoul National University's College of Engineering, poses for a photo on Sept. 25 after an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the university's Global Education Center for Engineers in Gwanak District, southern Seoul. [PARK SANG-MOON]

As many talented students today prefer medical school over engineering or even choose to study abroad, Seoul National University's (SNU) College of Engineering is setting its sights on attracting Vietnamese students through scholarships. The college also hopes the students will stay, becoming key researchers and engineers that will help Korea grow.

"As of the fall semester, the College of Engineering has around 219 international students, which is not a large number given our overall student body," said Hwang Won-tae, Vice Dean of International Affairs of the university's College of Engineering. "Among our outstanding graduates, we have had some enter the work force and others continue their research in graduate school, but there are now fewer students enrolling in graduate programs."

"Students preferring medical schools and choosing to study abroad has become a significant issue, making it necessary for us to look overseas for talent. Other universities in Korea have already been putting in a lot of effort, and we are also following suit.”

Aiming to solve the problem, Seoul National University's College of Engineering launched the Education for X-Caliber Engineering Leaders (Excel) project.

Through the Excel Project, the college addresses the engineering brain drain problem in two ways. The first targets Korean undergraduate first year students in the college by offering an annual scholarship of 20 million won ($14,260) and an annual research grant of 10 million won for up to three years. Students will be chosen based on their research proposals, with scholarship details to be introduced around late October.

The other approach provides scholarships to students in Vietnam — both high school students set to graduate and first year students at Vietnamese universities willing to transfer. The scholarship, worth 20 million won per year for up to three years, is offered to outstanding students who will enroll in undergraduate programs at the College of Engineering.

The Excel Project aims to not only increase the number of engineering students, but also to encourage them to stay in Korea, contributing to the country's technological growth and development. To do so, international scholars will be offered career support and Korean language classes.

The college first promoted the scholarship in November last year, visiting Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh High School for the Gifted to meet students and introduce the opportunity.

"We began preparing to recruit international talent in late last year with Vietnam, and we are set to visit Vietnam again this week," said Hwang. "We held a recruiting event last year, with students applying around March. Announcements were made around April and May and selected students who choose to study at SNU are enrolling in the fall semester."

"Vietnam starts its academic year in the fall, so the students we met at our sessions are usually in their first semester at their current universities. If they decide to come study at SNU, they withdraw from their current institution and enroll with us."

Students can apply for the College of Engineering's scholarship when applying to Seoul National University. Around 10 students applied, with five getting selected but only one officially enrolling for the fall semester.

"Last year, we were still in the very early stages, even before the scholarship was officially announced." said Hwang. "But we now have scholarship funding from the DB Kim Jun Ki Cultural Foundation and LG Chem, and we plan to gradually expand."

Hwang sat down for an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Sept. 25 to discuss more about the scholarship, as well as the college's plans to foster more engineering students.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Professors at the College of Engineering pose for a photo after the Issue & Voice forum held on June 17, when the Education for X-Caliber Engineering Leaders (Excel) project was introduced. [SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY]

Q. Why is the scholarship specifically aimed at Vietnamese students?
A. When we look at countries our international students come from, Vietnam consistently ranks around the top five. There are also a lot of Vietnamese students enrolled in undergraduate programs at other Korean universities. Likewise, the graduate programs at these other universities already have many international students, with Vietnamese students making up a notable portion there too.

When we ask professors why this is, they say it’s because the students are hard-working, smart and adapt well due to having a similar culture. Other universities have been actively recruiting students in Vietnam, and Seoul National University also started doing so last year.

How did Vietnamese students respond when they were introduced to the scholarship last November?
Vietnamese students generally know about Korea and are aware of Seoul National University, but deciding to study abroad is still a big adventure. Especially for students already attending university, they might wonder if it’s really worth taking another risk by transferring schools. In that context, scholarships serve as a significant incentive, and the students were very interested. Last year, we could only tell them an approximate scholarship amount. But this year we have a specific figure, which is 20 million won per year. Our tuition is 3 million won per semester, so that's 6 million per year. We provide 12 million won for annual living expenses and when you add health insurance and other costs, the total comes to 20 million won. There aren’t many institutions in Korea that provide scholarships of this scale.

Kim Young-oh, dean of Seoul National University's College of Engineering, left, poses for a photo with Yoon Dae-geun, chairman of the DB Kim Jun Ki Cultural Foundation, on July 24 to celebrate the foundation donating 400 million won for the international student scholarship. [SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY]

Although the university reviews scholarship candidates, are there any candidates of specific qualities or areas of study that the College of Engineering wishes to invite?
We introduced several fields that the College of Engineering offers such as AI and robotics [during the scholarship session], but we basically want to select students who are interested in as diverse fields as possible. From what we observed, Vietnamese students seemed to be particularly interested in studying semiconductors, and it also seems like a field that the Vietnamese government tries to support a lot.

The scholarship's career support may also be an area that interest students who wish to work in Korea after graduation.
We will provide consultation programs at the SNU Career Development Center and startup programs at the SNU Center For Entrepreneurship & Innovation. The College of Engineering also has an Engineering Talent Development Center, where consultants will offer guidance on students' career paths.

We are also part of the government's Regional Innovation System for Education (RISE) funding program, and one of our agendas is to foster international graduate students in high-tech industries. For this program, one of the key performance indicators is the students’ employment and entrepreneurship outcomes. We overall have a goal to nurture talented international students who can study in Korea, get jobs at well-renowned Korean companies and contribute to our society. Even if some students decide to return to their home countries, we aim to build a network with students that have a positive relationship with Korea.

The opening ceremony for the Engineering Talent Development Center, held on June 10 [SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY]

Many Korean engineering students chose to go to graduate schools in the U.S., and the country is also a popular destination for international students. With U.S.'s decision to increase H-1B visa fees and crack down on student visas, could this be an opportunity for Korea to host more engineering students?
Yes, we definitely think it's a opportunity. I recently read in a New York Times article that international students are becoming hesitant to study in the U.S. due to Trump's policies, and universities in Asia, like Singapore, are actively seeking those talented students. Some universities in Korea are already doing this, and it’s now time for Seoul National University to actively pursue international talent as well.

A country's competitiveness also plays a role when students decide their study abroad destination. What strengths does Korea have in engineering?
I take great pride as an engineering professional, and believe engineering has played a significant role in Korea's development. I still remember from my childhood when Hyundai Motor produced its first Pony: One of my relatives was very excited about getting their own car, and they took me on a ride and even showed me the roll-down windows. But today, we have a very strong automobile industry with Hyundai Motor Group among the global top five. We also have strong shipbuilding and semiconductor industries. If you go abroad, you can see that we have a strong household appliances industry. Our defense industry is also gaining traction. More important, there aren’t many countries that have such a wide range of industries. There are countries that have automobile sectors, but not as big as ours. While we might be a small country, those factors will make studying in Korea an attractive choice.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]