Top universities use reputations to run pricey English camps

Top universities use reputations to run pricey English camps. June. 13, 2011 05:16. tigermask@donga.com jhk85@donga.com.

"It`s so expensive even if the university`s name value is considered," a mother of two daughters said who planned to send them, one in middle school and the other in elementary school, to an English-language summer camp run by a Korean university.

She gave up, however, due to expensive tuition of a combined 6 million won (5,540 U.S. dollars) for a three-month program.

"Certain English camps in the Philippines with the same schedule cost less than 3 million won (2,770 dollars)," she said, adding, "It`s unpleasant to see domestic universities apparently encourage expensive private education."

○ Expensive univ. English camps

In the run-up to summer vacation, major universities in Seoul are recruiting elementary, middle and high school students for English camps. Such programs are so popular among parents that the universities hold briefing sessions on them. Certain parents even have a far-fetched expectation that such programs will help their children enter a given university.

The problem is the cost of a camp can exceed 1 million won (923 dollars) per month. Tuition is 3.1 million won (2,862 dollars) at the 19-day Sogang English Workshop run by Sogang University¡¯s English education center SLP. Native English speakers and Korean teachers will give lectures in the program that begins July 25.

I-Oedae, an English education company under Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, will open the 2011 I-Oedae Summer English Camp for students in fifth and sixth grade and seventh and eighth grade from July 22 through Aug. 10. The program costs 2.94 million won (2,714 dollars) per student.

Students who take English-language courses provided by Yonsei University in summer must pay 1.23 million won (1,136 dollars) for first to sixth graders. Korea University is charging 1.6 million won (1,477 dollars) for camps for fourth to sixth graders.

Universities that operate such programs say they are forced to set high tuition as they have to invite native English-speaking instructors from the U.S. and Canada and pay for curriculum development, accommodations and food for them.

Parents, however, remain disgruntled, with one saying, "Such programs are no different from those provided by private academies as the instructors aren`t university professors," adding, "After all, universities are charging for their name value."

Given that universities will use empty classrooms and dorm rooms over summer vacation, tuition is all the more high, parents said.

○ Halving tuition with help from municipal and provincial governments

If such camps are run in cooperation with municipal and provincial governments, tuition is cut almost in half.

A summer English camp run by Sogang University and Seoul`s Mapo district office from July 25 through Aug. 5 costs 630,000 won (582 dollars). Even if the joint program finishes a week earlier, its tuition is half the cost of the program unilaterally run by the university.

The joint program will open at the university and one class will comprise 13 students.

Sogang University said, "There will no difference in quality as a native speaker and Korean instructor will handle one class."

"Sogang English Workshop is more expensive than the Mapo district English camp since the former focuses more on studies and provides accommodations," a university source said.

The cost of a 12-day English camp run by Hankuk University with the Dongdaemun district office is 700,000 won (646 dollars), a third less than a similar program run solely by the university.

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies said, "The English program run by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies is a one-month training camp held at Yongin Foreign Language High School attached to the university," adding, "Positive stimulation participants can get in the program will have enormous value that cannot be measured monetarily."

Nevertheless, experts say universities cannot avoid criticism that they want money by utilizing their reputations. Schools set high tuition fees by exploiting parents and students who want to learn at renowned universities in an era where English proficiency is a must for success, they said.

Kim Seung-hyeon, in charge of policymaking at a civic group for "a world free of private education," said, "Expensive English camps are a sales gimmick that exploits the psychology of parents who spare no money in the face of university reputation," adding, "The Education, Science and Technology Ministry should assess the appropriateness of English camp tuition levels."