Global cyber college Taejae University to open in September

The Hanssem DBEW Design Center building, which will be used as Taejae University's headquarters. [KIM SUNG-RYONG]

Taejae University will start accepting students to its unique global campus model starting this fall semester.

The Ministry of Education announced Friday it gave Taejae University the approval to recruit students and officially open in September.

Taejae University is a new cyber university that offers online courses, but only to students living in its dorms in five different cities around the world while working on group projects with other students. Referred to as civic projects, students will conduct research and explore issues such as climate change, urban regeneration and business trends in each city.

Students will spend their first three semesters in Seoul, totaling a year and a half, then live in Tokyo for their fourth semester, New York for the fifth semester, Hong Kong for the sixth semester and Moscow for the seventh semester. The final eighth semester will be spent back in Seoul.

Apart from academics, students will have to participate in study tours and visit various historic sites in each country.

The university will be selecting 100 students for the fall semester. International students are eligible to apply.

Undergraduate studies will be offered at its School of Innovation Foundations, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and School of Business Innovation.

Taejae University was established by Cho Chang-geol, the founder of furniture company Hanssem.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]