High dropout rates persist for many international graduate students

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High dropout rates persist for many international graduate students

Published: 07 Oct. 2024, 16:00

LEE TAE-HEE
lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon introduces plans to attract talented international students during a press conference in May. This year, the dropout rate for international students enrolled in master's and Ph.D. programs in science, engineering and medicine stood at 7.3 percent. [NEWS1]

Dropout rates for international students pursuing master's and Ph.D. degrees in science, engineering and medicine remain higher than the average, prompting calls for the government to provide more employment support to help reduce these figures.

The dropout rate for international students in these fields was 7.3 percent this year, according to data from the Korea Institute of Human Resources Development in Science and Technology, submitted to the office of Rep. Choi Soo-jin of the People Power Party on Sunday.

Although this is a slight decrease from last year's 7.56 percent, it remains higher than the overall dropout rate of 5 percent, which includes both Korean and international students.

Among master's programs, engineering had the highest dropout rate for international students at 7.5 percent, a 0.3 percentage point increase from the previous year. Medical programs followed with a rate of 6.1 percent, up 1.3 percentage points, while natural sciences saw a 5.8 percent dropout rate, a decrease of 1.4 percentage points from the previous year.

For Ph.D. programs, natural sciences had the highest dropout rate at 8.5 percent, up by 1 percentage point. Engineering had a dropout rate of 7.7 percent, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points, while medical programs saw a drop to 6.2 percent, down by 4.5 percentage points.

The government has focused on increasing scholarships to attract and retain more international students. According to the National Institution of International Education, 1,574 foreign master's and Ph.D. students in science and engineering received scholarships worth 24.5 billion won ($18 million) in 2023. This year, 28.8 billion won in scholarships had already been allocated to these students as of September.

However, some argue that scholarships alone are not enough. Rep. Choi pointed out that the government lacks sufficient support to help international students settle in Korea long-term, with no official statistics on the employment or settlement rates of those who have completed master's or doctoral degrees in science and engineering.

The closest available data comes from the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training, which tracks only Ph.D. graduates. Of the 1,944 foreign students who earned a Ph.D. in science and engineering in 2021, 29.8 percent stayed in Korea and found employment.

"In today's world, we need international researchers to advance in fields like semiconductors and AI," said Rep. Choi. "The government needs to go beyond just attracting international researchers to Korea by introducing policies that help them find jobs and settle down here."

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