The nationality of international students significantly varies, but the largest groups are from South America and Europe. About 90% of international students came to POSTECH through exchange programs, and the rest for business trips.
Exchange students are usually given a list of four to five universities that provide course programs appropriate for their field of study. They tended to carry beliefs that the Korean teaching system is highly competitive in worldly comparison. Specifically, the fact that POSTECH has a good reputation and high ranking was the main reason for about 95% of exchange students coming to POSTECH. About 10% said they chose POSTECH to experience Korean culture.
45% of international students at POSTECH are majoring in Computer Science Engineering. The next most common majors are Material Science and Engineering, and Industrial Management and Engineering, both equally accounting for about 20%. Mechanical Engineering accounted for about 10%, and other majors made up 5%.
Additionally, it was found that most of the international students have serious language issues at POSTECH. Foreign students have to choose lectures that are conducted in English. This significantly narrows down their options. Furthermore, even the lectures that are said to be delivered in English are mostly in Korean, and English is only used very selectively: it is often limited to technical terms and the names of experiments. As a result, international students inevitably have difficulties in selecting courses to fulfill enough credits for their field of study.
We must consider how much they learn and how satisfied they are with their choice of studying at POSTECH. Members of and the university itself should question themselves before inviting them to come to POSTECH. “Are we prepared to provide them what we promise?
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