As the time passes international students from all over the world come to Korea to study and develop themselves academically. The same phenomenon applies at CWNU. As the chart above indicates from 2015, the number of international students gradually increased. This statistic shows a positive effect on our nation, but what about for themselves? Do they get any benefits from studying in Korea? Are there scholarships provided for them at our campus?
There are numerous types of scholarships for native students. Some of which include: Bong-rim scholarships, Sa-rim scholarships, national scholarships, state scholarships, cultural scholarships, scholarships for part-timers within the campus, and lastly, scholarships provided for an individual or group that is outside of the campus. Surprisingly, there are only a few scholarships for international students. The selection standard is completely different than original scholarships for natives, and the application process for foreigners is much more rigorous compared to the native process.
According to Kim Min-jeong from Department of International Affairs, “there are considerable numbers of scholarships provided for international students at CWNU”, by adding, “even though, they are not eligible to get a state scholarships, they can be one of the candidates for Bong-rim, Ra-rim and national scholarships”. Scholarships for international students can be largely divided into three major sections. The first one is academic scholarships. Within this division there are Bong-rim, Sa-rim and national scholarships included. For undergraduates, previous semester grades takeover 70% of the evaluation standard. Additionally, a score of Test of Proficiency in Korean, TOPIK, covers 30% of the marking system. With those standard combined together, scholarships are granted to the top ranked 50% of the students divided into three different ratings. The same criteria are applied to graduate students, except 80% of higher ranked students receive scholarships. Of the three scholarship sections, the second one is a special scholarship provided by international affairs. Basically, for these scholarships they give out school tuition proportional to student’s TOPIK scores. Last year, eight students had received these scholarships. Finally, the last one is a scholarship provided by our own government. Students with outstanding grades in their own nation are invited in our country with the support of school tuition fee. This type of scholarship policy is considered to be one of the most difficult divisions to be selected since the international students have to compete against rest of the worldwide students. There are ostensibly less types of scholarships provided for international students compared to Korean natives, but nonetheless, according to a ratio of students, Korean students largely outnumber international students. Thus, there is no discrimination in giving out scholarships. With that being said, a short interview was conducted with an international students who was granted a scholarship for this semester.
Q: Which types of scholarships did you receive and how did you get them? What was the main requirement for you to achieve it?
Choi Soon-hwa from the Dept. of Japanese Language & Literature
I am a Chinese student who had entered this university and received TOPIK scholarships from the international affairs. There was countless exchange business between my previous college in China and CWNU, so I spontaneously knew a lot about this university and it started to pull my attention. A few months later, I had decided to enter CWNU as an international student and prepared for this opportunity. I had studied Korean in China for two years and had taken a TOPIK to meet the standard of what the international affairs department had provided. With a great endeavor, I succeeded in entering CWNU by receiving a scholarship that was in my mind from the beginning. However, TOPIK scores only last for two years, so I need to re-take the test to prolong my scholarships. Thus, I took TOPIK again last year since I am a junior now. I do not know much about other countries, but in my own opinion, Korea owns many different scholarship policies, not only for natives, but also for the international students like me. Therefore, I do not regret of coming to this wonderful nation and want to consume lots of things that are related to my study.

By. Kim Young-min, cub-reporte  dnl2874@naver.com

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