Gwangju University Selected as a "Leading University with Specialized Strengths," Speeds Up Institutional Reform and Academic Innovation
Focus on Developing Care and Safety Professionals in Fields Such as "Social Welfare, Nursing, Policing and Firefighting"
Gwangju University has been selected for the 2026 Fostering Regional Universities with Specialized Strengths (FIRST) project, a large-scale financial support program run by the Ministry of Education, and is stepping up efforts to transform the university and innovate its academic programs.
The Ministry of Education announced on Tuesday that it had selected a total of 33 institutions for the FIRST project: 16 universities and 17 junior colleges. It will provide a total of 600 billion won in national funding through 2030. This year’s support budget for universities totals 85 billion won, with each selected university set to receive an average of about 5 billion won.
Gwangju University has designated “Human Life (Care & Safety)” as its core area of specialization. Its plan is to combine traditional care-related strengths in social welfare, psychology and nursing with safety infrastructure in fields such as policing, firefighting and emergency rescue to train professionals equipped to meet social needs.
To this end, the university will undertake a sweeping reorganization of its colleges starting in the 2028 academic year, establishing the College of Wellbeing Care and the College of Safety. The two colleges will offer joint courses combining care and safety and fully allow students to take courses across majors, breaking down academic boundaries.
The university will also pursue curriculum reform to train future-ready talent.
It will introduce the “AI-X Completion Ladder,” a four-year, step-by-step education system for all students that starts with “AI Makers” in the first year and progresses to ethics, data analysis and interdisciplinary projects. The system is designed to help students develop practical AI skills regardless of their major.
The university has also established a system to demonstrate students’ practical skills and competitiveness in the job market. It will assess eight core competencies and issue a “Graduation Guarantee Certificate (Life SkillUp Competency Certification System)” to students who meet the required standards, formally certifying their job readiness. In addition, it will make the “Co-op” industry field-training program mandatory for third-year students in relevant majors. The eight-week program is paid and aims to improve students’ ability to adapt to the workplace.
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A Gwangju University official said, “We have completed a comprehensive student development pathway, from basic AI education to interdisciplinary studies, certified competencies and paid internships.” The official added, “As a leading specialized university with distinctive strengths in care and safety, we will focus on developing practical professionals who meet the needs of local communities and industry.”
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