64% say no to regional national universities — even with free tuition

Six in 10 students and parents say they would not enroll — or send their children — to a regional national university even if tuition were fully covered, according to a new survey.

Jongno Academy, a major test-prep institution, conducted the online survey of 660 college-bound students and parents from Monday through Wednesday at the request of Newsis. The results, released Friday, showed that 63.9 percent of respondents had no intention of attending or enrolling their children in a national university outside the Greater Seoul area, even with full tuition support.

Only 13.5 percent said they would choose a regional national university if tuition were fully covered.

The findings suggest that perceptions of metropolitan-area universities as more advantageous for future employment and graduate school admissions outweigh the appeal of tuition benefits.

Among those who said they would not attend a regional national university, the most common reason — cited by 54.9 percent — was simply not wanting to live outside the capital area.

That was followed by the belief that a metropolitan-area degree offers better prospects for employment and further study (38.2 percent), the view that existing government scholarships and merit-based aid are already sufficient (3.1 percent), and concern that competition for admission would intensify (0.7 percent).

More than half of respondents also said they had no intention of settling in a region even if the government used tuition-free scholarships to encourage enrollment at local national universities.

Asked whether they would settle in the region if they received full tuition support at a local national university, 27.0 percent said "definitely not" and 30.9 percent said "no," putting the combined negative response at 57.9 percent. Only 13.9 percent answered "yes" or "definitely yes."

Nearly half of all respondents — 48.1 percent — said making tuition free at regional national universities would not help ease competition in college admissions, while 17.6 percent believed it would have an effect.

When asked what factors matter most in choosing a university, respondents ranked name recognition and prestige first, at 59.1 percent. That was followed by graduate employment and further-study outcomes (15.1 percent), academic departments and faculty (12.8 percent), and the university's location and facilities (10.7 percent).

By contrast, only 2.4 percent cited tuition costs and scholarship benefits as a primary factor in choosing a university.