The U is sailing across the ocean to build a satellite campus in South Korea.
Last week, the Korean Ministry of Education approved the campus, which is located in Songdo, South Korea. The U will be one of four founding schools in the Incheon Global Campus initiative.
Cheri Daily, director of external relations at the Office for Global Engagement, said students have already applied for the 2014 Fall Semester. The campus in South Korea will offer social work, communication and psychology undergraduate degrees and a graduate program in public health.
“It’s a way of experiencing cultures,” Daily said.
In addition to providing greater access to studying in Asia for Utah students, the Korean campus will also allow more international students to study at the U. Students who enroll at the Korean campus will study for a year at the U’s main campus in Salt Lake City.
The new campus sits in a free economic zone in South Korea, and Daily said the region offers a variety of “forward- thinking” developments.
The South Korean government built the campus and offered it to the U, Daily said. The donation is a large part of the reason the U agreed to start a campus in Korea. Tuition, which is expected to be approximately $20,000 a year, will provide the funds needed outside of the campus facility costs.
The U and the Korean government were able to come to a favorable agreement following extensive meetings between the Korean Ministry of Education and U faculty. Daily said it was a matter of making sure Korea knew what to expect from the U and that the U was comfortable with the conditions of the agreement.
U students will be able to transfer to the Korean campus but will have to pay the regular $20,000 tuition. In-state tuition rates are applicable for U study abroad opportunities, which typically last for a semester. However, it does not apply to a four-year program of study, wherein degrees are accredited, like in the Korean campus.
“It is absolutely equivalent to a degree earned on the main Salt Lake campus,” Daily said.
Daily said the Korean campus will help to create global citizens and fulfill U President David Pershing’s goal of giving the U a greater international impact.
The U has already received applications from current students to study at the new campus. Students who have not heard of the Korean campus still express interest in studying abroad.
Amanda Lau, a sophomore in medical lab science, said she had not considered participating in a study abroad program. She said the idea of culture immersion appealed to her and would like to study in Korea.
“It would be a new place even though it’s the same school,” she said.
Christina Angarola, a sophomore in finance, is planning on studying abroad in Europe. She said she might consider studying in Korea, but enjoys being on the Utah campus.
The first group of students to attend the U’s Korean campus will be mostly from Korea or neighboring countries, but Daily said a significant number will also be accepted from Europe and the United States.
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