financial operation briefing session

On September 25, a financial operation briefing session was held by KnocKH and the Office of Planning & Coordination (OPC) at Kyung Hee University (KHU) Cheongwoon Building B117. This was the third session, following two earlier sessions held in January. The briefing mainly addressed KHU’s financial environment after the tuition increase and the allocation of the additional revenue from the increase.

The Financial Environment Throughout KHU

Kim Young-jin from OPC pointed out KHU’s low tuition and high fixed costs compared to other universities as key risk factors of the University’s financial structure.

Earlier this year, the University increased the tuition fees by 5.1%, the first increase in 16 years. The reason for the increase was financial difficulties. 

However, since the previous tuition was low KHU’s tuition revenue still lags behind peer institutions. According to the minutes of the Tuition Review Committee, KHU’s average annual tuition fee is 460,000 won lower than the overall university average. Compared to Yonsei University, which has the highest tuition fee, KHU’s tuition fee is lower by 1.25 million won. In terms of the whole tuition revenue, this shows a difference of about 11.5 billion won from the university average.

Kim stated, “Compared to other universities, KHU is offering educational services to students at a cost of approximately 11.5 billion won less.

Another risk factor is high fixed costs. KHU’s rate of management and operation expenses is approximately 13%, which is similar to other universities. However, personnel expenses rate account for 47%, which is 7% higher than the average. “With such high fixed costs, the financial structure gets highly sensitive to inflation,” Kim explained.

The Allocation of The Additional Revenue

KHU has previously announced that it will allocate the 11 billion won in additional revenue from the tuition increase as follows: 3.5–4 billion won for scholarships and student support, 4.5–5 billion won for facility investment, and 2 billion won for research.

For scholarships, 67.94 billion won was allocated in the main budget, with an additional 2.44 billion won allocated. Of this, approximately 52.78 billion won has been executed so far. In the case of student support, 11.59 billion won was allocated in the main budget, with an additional 1.15 billion won allocated. As a result, scholarships and student support funds together received an additional 3.59 billion won, reaching the originally announced investment level of 3.5 to 4 billion won.

For facility investment, 14.85 billion won was allocated in the main budget, with an additional 4.77 billion won later assigned. Of this, 11.8 billion won has been executed. Accordingly, various infrastructure improvement projects are actively underway on both campuses, including restroom renovations, waterproofing exterior, and the replacement of artificial turf.

Shin Ha-kyun, the president of the College of Politics & Economics student association, questioned how the priority of improvement projects was decided. Kim answered, “Safety was the first priority. We also focused on common areas that students use most. We are addressing the most urgent safety-related facilities first. The projects will proceed gradually in the second half of the year.” For instance, renovation work has been carried out in the Students Center, where a ceiling collapse incident had previously occurred.

Lastly, for research funds, 23.5 billion won was allocated in the main budget. Unlike the earlier announcement that 2 billion won from the additional tuition revenue will be invested, no extra funds were allocated. Nevertheless, compared to the previous year, approximately 2.1 billion won more has been executed.

Kim explained, “Research funds typically show a high non-execution rate. What matters is not how much budget is allocated, but how much of it is actually executed. The reason the executed amount increased compared to last year is that many systems were adjusted based on the additional tuition revenue.”

The session marked an interim checkpoint for the financial operation after the tuition raise. Students' strong interest in the University's financial status marked the significance of the session. As 2025—the first year of the tuition increase—ends, the settlement will be made public, and continued attention from the KHU community will be essential to transparency and accountability.