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Education Ministry to roll out mandatory AI courses at universities

Published: 23 Feb. 2026, 18:54 Updated: 23 Feb. 2026, 19:03

Medical students attend a class at a lecture hall of the Pusan National University School of Medicine in Busan on Sept. 1, 2025. [YONHAP]

The Ministry of Education will spend 6 billion won ($4.2 million) to introduce mandatory AI courses at 20 universities, marking the first nationwide push to ensure college students gain basic AI skills regardless of their major.

The ministry and the Korean Council for University Education announced on Monday a new initiative to support the development of basic AI courses at universities. The government will select 20 universities and provide 300 million won to each school.

The ministry aims to help students apply AI tools in their own fields as the technology becomes part of everyday life. Selected universities will develop introductory AI liberal arts courses and require students to complete them.

Schools will also add AI programs for nonengineering majors. Students in fields such as law and business will learn how to apply AI in their studies and careers.

Universities will also change how they teach AI.

They will build support systems through campus organizations such as centers for teaching and learning or offices for education innovation. Schools will have professors from different majors train and teach together. The ministry aims to make AI education a university-wide effort rather than confining it to computer science.

The OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration from May 20, 2024. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The 20 participating universities will share their curricula with other schools.

The ministry plans to have universities share AI courses, recognize credits between schools and provide classes through online platforms.

Participating universities will form a consultative group to share results. As for selecting the schools, the ministry will assess applicants based on four criteria — university vision, project plan, budget and performance management — before announcing the final list in April.

The project expands the ministry’s AI talent policy from elementary and high schools to universities. The ministry presented a broader plan in November last year to strengthen AI education at universities and secured related funding in the budget.

Separately, the ministry will spend 30 billion won to help national universities outside Seoul build stronger AI programs and 5 billion won on short-term programs that combine AI with other fields.

The Yonsei University logo is seen in western Seoul on Nov. 10, 2025. [NEWS1]

Some educators question whether the funding will translate into stronger AI capabilities on campus. Faculty shortages remain the biggest obstacle.

Only 249 full-time professors nationwide specialize in AI as of 2025, up from 128 in 2023, according to education information site Higher Education in Korea.

Educators say that number falls short of the growing demand for AI education.

“Major universities often fill AI faculty positions by sharing professors from computer science or cybersecurity,” a vice president for academic affairs at a private university in Seoul said. “Bringing in professionals who work in the field as part-time professors is also not easy because of pay and scheduling issues.”

Universities also struggle to keep pace with rapid changes. Seventy-one percent of universities nationwide have not established guidelines for using generative AI, while more than 90 percent of students already use AI for assignments, according to a survey by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training.

The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT on March 21, 2023. [AP/YONHAP]

“Simply putting money into the program will not improve AI education on campus,” a planning director at a university in Seoul said. “Universities need more freedom in hiring professors and running classes, and faculty from different majors need better support to work together.”

An official at the Education Ministry said the ministry will expand the results from the 20 universities through online platforms and share education models among participating schools.

“We will also support professors outside AI-related majors to strengthen their AI teaching skills and reduce the shortage of instructors in the field,” the official said.

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 HOO-YEON [[email protected]]