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2007 Fall – Korea Post-Fair Report
Korean Student Numbers in the U.S. Continue Significant Rise
Report Contents:
Pre-Fair Orientation: Korean Student Market Status
U.S. Embassy Consular Officer, Mr. Hyun B. Sim, provided a briefing for the American Education Fair delegation at the Oakwood Premier Hotel in Seoul on the morning of Saturday, October 6th. Mr. Sim presented statistics revealing that the U.S. Embassy in Korea issued more than 39,000 students visas in 2006, a 15 percent increase over the previous year. Sim declared that more student visas were issued in Korea than in any other country. Reporting on several major trends, he noted that Koreans are studying overseas in record numbers, and that there is fierce competition among English-speaking countries to attract Korean students pursuing English language studies. Sim further mentioned that many Korean students have come to realize that U.S. community colleges can be a stepping-stone to 4-year colleges. He advised U.S. schools to include Korean-language content on the web to reach the local market.
Describing the U.S. Embassy’s outreach efforts in Korea, Sim explained that these efforts include student visa presentations at Korean universities and colleges; visa seminars at Fulbright offices; student visa seminars via Digital Video Conference (DVC) to universities located outside of Seoul; tours of Consular Section visa operations for interested education professionals from Korea and the United States; Op/Ed contributions to local newspapers on student visa issues emphasizing how the U.S. welcomes Korean students; expanding activities to reach university students at less well-known schools, adult students, and primary and secondary level students; expanding outreach to regional centers like Busan, Daegu, Daejon, Gwangju and Incheon; and reaching out to parents and families of students, Korean school officials, businesses catering to overseas students, and American education professionals.
New Embassy initiatives, according to Sim, include sending personnel to regional centers to conduct visa presentations; informally reaching out to the general public about student visas at local coffee houses; providing tours of consular operations to high school students; hosting receptions for Korean school officials; engaging Korean overseas study companies; DVC presentations to U.S. education professionals; and making more effective use of the Internet and mass media.
Mr. Stephen Smith, of AIEF’s Washington, D.C. office, discussed recent Korean education policies. Smith noted that increased cooperation between Korean and foreign universities is being encouraged for research, exchanges, and joint degree programs. Another issue that he addressed was the Korean Council for University Education’s plan to launch the nation's first academic credentials verification system to deal with fraud issues. Rampant cases of fraudulent academic degrees in Korea’s government, academic, business, and entertainment sectors have prompted this move. Smith also observed that the new Korean college admissions rule requiring a 25:1 student to teacher ratio has resulted in lower enrollments at Korean institutions unable to meet this requirement; consequently, this could increase the size of the Korean student pool choosing to study in the United States.
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Seoul Fair Statistics
The 2007 Fall American Education Fair in Seoul, which took place from October 6-7 at the COEX, attracted many of the fairgoers at the Korea Student Fair who were interested in pursuing educational opportunities in the United States. It is estimated that the overall attendance at the Student Fair was 25,000, with more than 3,500 fairgoers visiting AIEF’s American Pavilion.
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Seoul Fair Highlights
Prominently located to the left of the main entrance to the Korea Student Fair exhibition venue in COEX, the American Pavilion was decorated with a red, white and blue motif. The American Pavilion, organized and coordinated by AIEF, was reserved exclusively for authorized U.S. school representatives. AIEF provided booths for the U.S. embassy and Fulbright offices in Korea so representatives would be on hand to answer questions posed by the public. At the entryway to the American Pavilion, staff at the AIEF booth offered free counseling and directed student traffic.
At no additional charge to the American Education Fair exhibitors, AIEF arranged for interpreters from Korean colleges and universities to translate for each of the participating American schools. AIEF provided Korean-language signs at every booth within the American Pavilion to introduce the essential facts about each institution in a format that was easily understood by the local fairgoers.
Free color maps of the U.S., printed by AIEF, were distributed to the American Pavilion’s visitors to help them easily locate where the participating institutions are situated geographically within the United States.
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Seoul Special Seminars
In conjunction with the American Education Fair in Seoul, a series of seminars for students was offered on various topics, including “The Advantage of Choosing a Small University,” “Taking IELTS to Study in the U.S.,” “Middle School in the United States,” and “How to Find the Best ESL School for You.” At the invitation of AIEF, U.S. Embassy consular officer Ms. Rachel Crawford offered a presentation to Korean students and parents on the student visa application process.
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AIEF’s Student Tracking System
APre-Fair registration was offered as a service to students, and visitors to the American Pavilion were encouraged to register their educational goals and contact details in AIEF’s student tracking system. Pending verification, the registered student data will be entered into an AIEF computer database and will soon be distributed to schools that participated in the fair
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Seoul Social
On the evening of Saturday, October 6th, American Education Fair participants were treated to traditional Korean barbecue dishes and spirits at the “Dallise” restaurant in Seoul. The dinner was co-hosted by Mr. Hongyu Lee, president of
KTF.
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2008 Spring,
Summer, and Fall Fairs in Asia
Registration is now open for AIEF’s 2008 Spring American Education Fairs in Asia. The Seoul Fair sold out this fall, so we encourage school’s to register early to ensure their booth space. The Fair schedule is as follows: Singapore -
March 20, 2008
Taipei - March 23-24, 2008
Kaohsiung - March 25, 2008
Taichung - March 26, 2008
Seoul - March 29-30, 2008
Busan - April 1, 2008
Shanghai - April 6, 2008
Also, the dates of
our Summer and Fall events will be:
Summer Fairs:
Shanghai - June 28-29, 2008
Hangzhou - July 2, 2008
Shenzhen - July 5, 2008 Fall
Fairs:
Singapore - October 2, 2008
Seoul - October 4-5, 2008
Busan - October 7, 2008
Taipei - October 11-12, 2008
Kaohsiung - October 13, 2008
Taichung - October 14, 2008
Shanghai - October 18, 2008 Online registration is available at:
http://www.aief-usa.org/services/signup_fair.htm. For more information, please visit our Website or call the AIEF’s California office at 714-985-1995.
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