[Policy Pulse] A Nation Investing in Its Universities' Future

Move beyond calculations over tuition and government support

Rethink the universities we will pass on to the next generation

Build a new ecosystem for higher education

Every day, work to prepare a country's future takes place in university classrooms and laboratories. Students acquire knowledge and develop problem-solving skills, while researchers move closer to new discoveries through repeated failures and challenges. Companies seek solutions to technical challenges through joint research with universities, and employees and job seekers prepare for new career paths by returning to learning. All of these activities require outstanding faculty and research staff, well-equipped teaching and research facilities, and sustained funding.

Yet discussions about university finances often stop at how much to raise tuition or how much government support to provide. The scale of funding and how the burden is shared are important. But first, we must ask: What kind of education will we provide to the next generation, and what research capabilities will we pass on? The value of investment in higher education should be judged not only by how much is spent today, but also by the possibilities that investment will open up tomorrow.

Universities today face several challenges at once: innovating education and assessment for the age of artificial intelligence, advancing cutting-edge research, supporting the transition of regional industries, and retraining adults. If universities are expected to take on these roles without the necessary foundations, the burden will fall back on students and those working in education. If we expect universities to innovate, we must also design the investments that will make that innovation possible.

First, stable funding is needed to sustain education and research. It takes time to attract excellent professors, improve curricula, and nurture talented individuals. Research, too, requires failures and renewed attempts before new discoveries can be made. When future funding is difficult to predict, both hiring and long-term research are inevitably constrained.

Government support should be designed to strike a balance between funding that underpins universities' basic teaching and research capabilities and funding that encourages new initiatives. Competitive grants can spur innovation, but the foundations of education must not be shaken by whether a university wins a grant. Multi-year, comprehensive support should be expanded so universities can make medium- and long-term plans suited to their strengths and circumstances.

In particular, the nation must take consistent responsibility for investing in basic academic disciplines and long-term research. In “Why Basic Science Matters for Economic Growth,” Philip Barrett and other IMF researchers analyzed how basic research has long-term effects across multiple industries and countries. Because the benefits of research spread widely, individual companies may find it difficult to capture enough of the returns, making it unlikely that private investment alone will support enough of the research needed. Public investment helps bridge this gap and broaden the foundations for future innovation.

Building on these foundations, bold investment to advance research excellence is also needed. Researchers and research teams with the ability and potential to produce world-class results need focused, sustained support. Universities should develop areas in which they have particular strengths and connect talent and resources across departmental and institutional boundaries. Challenging research can lead to results only when funding is accompanied by excellent personnel, shared research facilities, and professional research support.

Second, the benefits of university investment must clearly reach students. We need to ensure both that universities have sufficient resources and that students have fair access to educational opportunities.

Scholarship support should take into account not only tuition but also students' actual living circumstances. No student should have to cut back on their studies or give up exploring career options because of housing, living, or textbook costs. Access to experiments and practical training, hands-on experience, and international exchange should likewise not depend on a student's financial circumstances. The success of scholarship policies should be measured not only by the number of recipients and the amounts awarded, but also by whether students have been able to learn fully and move on to the next stage.

Support for young researchers, including graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, should also be strengthened. They should receive fair compensation for their contributions to research and be able to develop their capabilities in stable conditions. Opportunities should be expanded for early-career researchers to launch independent research and pursue their own questions. Equipping laboratories with advanced tools and developing the people who will use them to create new knowledge must go hand in hand.

Third, university investment should be linked to the future of regional communities. Regional universities educate young people, collaborate with companies on research, and provide spaces for lifelong learning. The knowledge and talent built up at universities are vital foundations for regional industry and culture. The impact of university support should be assessed not only by employment rates, but also by the changes it brings to innovation at regional companies, the creation of new jobs, and learning opportunities for residents.

Universities, local governments, and companies should set medium- and long-term goals together and connect their resources. They should make the challenges facing regional companies topics for classes and research, and ensure that the talent developed through this process can find jobs in the region where they can put their abilities to use. Sharing curricula and research facilities among universities can expand students' options. The benefits of investment will be even greater if it is also linked to job-transition training for employees and middle-aged and older adults. When industries, jobs, and the conditions for putting down roots in a community improve together, university investment can lead to regional transformation.

Fourth, expanded investment must go hand in hand with university autonomy and accountability. Students' needs, academic strengths, and roles in their communities differ from one university to another. If spending categories and individual programs are prescribed uniformly, universities will struggle to respond to changing conditions on the ground. Public objectives and accounting principles should be clear, but universities should be able to choose how to achieve them. The judgment of people working on the ground, who are best placed to understand the needs of education and research, must be respected.

Universities must meet the responsibilities that come with this autonomy. They should transparently disclose how they have used their funds, how students' educational conditions have improved, and what contributions they have made to research and their communities. Assessments should respect the different missions of universities while considering both quantitative results and qualitative changes. Long-term research should be given sufficient time, while the rigor of the research process and responsible use of funds should also be reviewed.

Universities must also change from within. They should reduce administrative duplication, expand collaboration among institutions, and diversify funding through donations, industry-academic partnerships, and technology commercialization. It is also important to share information about university membership and financial conditions and to set investment priorities together. When universities use their resources responsibly and explain their results, they will be better positioned to call for greater investment from society.

Investment in higher education is a choice about the future South Korea wants to prepare for. The young people studying at universities today will lead industries, sustain regional communities, and solve society's most difficult problems. Questions first raised in laboratories today may lead to tomorrow's technologies and institutions. For these possibilities to bear fruit, sustained support over a long period is essential.

A country that invests in the future of its universities expands opportunities for young people, opens up prospects for regional communities, and strengthens the foundations of national growth. Universities must respond to that investment with better education, world-class research, and contributions to society. When the nation and universities share responsibility and prepare for the future together, today's investment becomes a change people can feel. South Korea's future depends on the people and questions being nurtured at its universities today.

Lee Kijeong, President of Hanyang University and Chairman of the Korean Council for University Education

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