POSTECH, SNU and KAIST have consistently been the 3 highest Korean universities in World University Rankings by QS and The Times. The three universities have different kinds of dormitories so students of each university pay different boarding fees.
POSTECH
Since 2014, POSTECH has been remodeling dormitories. This has improved the dormitories but also increased the boarding fees. In Residential College (RC), undergraduates pay 517,500 KRW per semester and graduates pay 828,000 KRW. Among the other dormitories (building 1 – 19), remodeled buildings are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 11. They have fees 453,750 KRW for undergraduates and 726,000 KRW for graduates. Building 19 is special in that students can live alone and it is only for graduates. It costs 216,000 KRW per month. Buildings that have not been remodeled and buildings for women cost 375,000 KRW for undergraduates and 600,000 KRW for graduates. All boarding fees above are fees calculated as 15 weeks in a semester.
SNU
SNU has a dormitory named Gwanak Residence Halls. Not all students can live in Gwanak. Undergraduates who want to live in it should have more than 2.7 GPA and graduates and researchers should maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher. Freshmen are admitted randomly. Buildings for undergraduates are 919, 921 – 926 and 906, and these for graduates are 918 and 900 – 905. In building 921 – 926, residents pay 456,000 KRW per semester, they pay 762,000 KRW in 906 and 528,000 in 919. Graduates who live in 918 pay 190,000 KRW per month. Also, in 900 – 906, boarding fees differ according to the number of people per room. For a single-person room, boarding fee is 293,000 KRW per month and students pay 208,000 KRW for a room for 2 people. When all residents first enter Gwanak, they should pay deposits, which are 100,000 KRW for undergraduates and fees per month for graduates.
KAIST
Dormitories for KAIST have about 21 kinds of buildings. Some buildings are for men undergraduates or freshmen, others are for women graduates and so on. For undergraduates, boarding fees are 94,000 KRW per month and rooms are for 2 or 3 people. For graduates, most buildings have one-room styles and boarding fees vary from about 50,000 KRW to 255,000 KRW per month. This difference comes from size and number of people per room, etc. KAIST provides 135,000 KRW per month to all students for every purposes. This money can be used for their meals.