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School clothing costs definitely not uniform, as parents navigate uneven subsidy systems, requirements

Published: 14 Feb. 2026, 15:00

Parents browse and buy donated middle and high school uniforms from Gwacheon at a school uniform event held on Feb. 5 in the lobby outside the Green Shop at Gwacheon Citizens Hall in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. [NEWS1]

More than a decade after Korea introduced a school-led uniform purchasing system to ease costs, many parents say they are still paying hundreds of thousands of won out of pocket.

Kim, a 55-year-old mother in Gyeonggi who asked to be identified only by her surname, recently spent 555,000 won ($380) on uniforms for her son, who is entering middle school this year. A government subsidy covered 400,000 won.

The basic set — one winter uniform and one summer uniform — cost 422,000 won. But the school also required extra shirts, which need frequent washing, and seasonal “activity wear.” Those additional items added 155,000 won beyond the subsidy.

“The prices for the extra activity wear items were higher than I expected, so I set alerts on Karrot so I can purchase them secondhand. But the competition was fierce,” Kim said. “In the end, I failed to get them.”

Public schools have been required since 2015 to use a joint purchasing system under which schools select vendors through competitive bidding and buy uniforms in bulk in an effort to ease parents' financial burden. Most private schools also participate to receive subsidies from local education offices.

Yet uniform prices vary sharply by school, and subsidies often do not cover all required items.

Data from the school information disclosure service show that the gap in middle school uniform costs last year reached as much as 526,000 won. One middle school in North Gyeongsang required 608,000 won for a full set, including jacket, seasonal uniforms and gym wear. By contrast, a middle school in Seoul that does not require formal uniforms charged 75,000 won for two seasonal “daily wear” tops.

Before the joint purchasing system, parents bought uniforms directly from major brands. Critics said marketing costs and dealer margins inflated prices and that brand differences fostered inequality among students.

Incoming male students take a look at their new school uniforms at a high school run by Dongguk University. The school is set to transition from girls-only to co-ed starting in the upcoming spring semester. [GARAM HIGH SCHOOL]

The current system was meant to address those issues, but some parents say they still pay tens of thousands to several hundred thousand won extra, depending on each school’s pricing and required items.

“One school’s basic items alone cost close to 500,000 won, and after adding extra gym uniforms or shirts that need frequent washing, I spent more than 220,000 won beyond the subsidy,” said another parent of a middle school student. “I heard at a school just 10 minutes away you can buy everything within the subsidy cap. The quality doesn’t seem that different, so I don’t understand the price gap.”

Subsidies also differ by region. Seoul provides 300,000 won through ZeroPay. Incheon, Busan and Sejong offer up to 300,000 won, while Gyeonggi provides in-kind support of up to 400,000 won. In some areas, subsidies apply only to certain items.

Hangaram High School in Yangcheon District, western Seoul, has officially designated hoodies as part of its uniform. [YONHAP]

Some experts say the system needs reassessment.

“Measures are needed to better reflect the program’s purpose, including easing restrictions on what items subsidies can cover,” said Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer science at Inha University. “Education authorities should strengthen monitoring of whether uniform prices are reasonable and to support more active secondhand trading through local communities.”

“We are working to stabilize prices by setting caps on annual increases in consultation with local education offices, taking inflation into account, and by monitoring and supervising the market to prevent collusion and other unfair practices,” said a Ministry of Education official. Uniform-related administration is handled by provincial and metropolitan education offices.

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]]