Kim Moonsoo of Democratic Party Proposes Higher Education Act Amendment for Equal Number of Student and Faculty Members on Tuition Review Committees

"Helping to Prevent Sudden Tuition Hikes"

A bill has been introduced to ensure that the number of student representatives on university tuition review committees is equal to that of faculty and staff representatives, aiming to curb sudden tuition increases.

Kim Moonsoo, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, announced on June 22 that he had sponsored a partial amendment to the Higher Education Act to this effect.

Kim Moonsoo, Democratic Party lawmaker. Photo by Kim Moonsoo's office.

Under current law, each university is required to establish and operate a tuition review committee to determine tuition fees. The committee must include at least three-tenths student representatives and less than five-tenths representatives from each constituent group. Expert members are appointed by mutual agreement between the university and the student body.

Currently, there are more faculty and staff representatives than student representatives on most committees. Even when the numbers are equal, the final decision on tuition is heavily influenced by the expert members, making it difficult for student opinions to be fully reflected.

In response, Assemblyman Kim has proposed an amendment requiring an equal number of faculty/staff and student representatives, with both the university and the student body each appointing the same number of expert members.

Assemblyman Kim stated, "More than 200 universities raised tuition consecutively last year and this year, increasing the financial burden on students and their families. I hope this bill will help prevent steep tuition hikes and at least somewhat ease the burden on households."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.