Funding flows for 186 universities to provide 1,000-won student breakfasts

K-campus

Published: 26 Feb. 2024, 14:37

Funding flows for 186 universities to provide 1,000-won student breakfasts

Kyung Hee University students eat the 1,000 won ($0.75) breakfast offered at its university cafeteria in March last year [NEWS1]

A total of 186 universities will receive government funding to offer the 1,000-won ($0.75) breakfast for their students this year.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced Sunday that 186 universities will be receiving funding of a total of 4.85 billion won to use for their 1,000-won breakfast programs.

The program allows students to have breakfast at an affordable price at their university cafeterias, aiming to help those on a tight budget and to boost declining rice consumption. Students pay 1,000 won, with the government offering a 2,000 won subsidy per meal and the rest being covered by the university. The cheap meals are available to only a few hundred students per day.

Funding rose 94 percent on year, which allowed 42 more universities to be selected for the program. The government subsidized 1,000 won per meal in last year's project, but has doubled the subsidy per meal.

Among the selected 186 universities, 76 are in greater Seoul such as Kyung Hee University, Korea University and Seoul National University.

Another 12 are in Gangwon and three are on Jeju Island. There are 34 universities selected in the Hoseo region — referring to Daejeon, Sejong and Chungcheong provinces — and 21 selected in the Honam region, referring to Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces.

Another 40 are from the Yeongnam area, which refers to the Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongsang provinces.

The full list can be found on the ministry website, with the English version available on K-campus.

A total of 16 local governments will also be offering additional funding of 3.8 billion won to universities in the region to use for the 1,000-won breakfast program.

Universities used to only offer the cheap meals during the semester, but will now be allowed to run the program during the summer and winter breaks.

"After getting feedback from the universities, we increased the subsidy per meal and the number of students the funding will be able to cover," said Choi Myung-chul, head of the ministry's Food Grain Policy Bureau. "We are also going to allow universities to offer the 1,000-won breakfast even during the summer and winter breaks."

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