Undergrad, Grad, Exchange: Costs | WeBring Korea Study Hub

The law sets the length of study; the university sets the credits

How many years each program takes is decided not by the university but by the Higher Education Act. The statutory minimums are as follows.

Associate degree programs run 2 to 3 years; the cases in which 3 years applies are fixed by Presidential Decree (Act art. 48(1)1).
Bachelor's degree programs run 4 to 6 years (Act art. 31(1)1). Medicine, Korean medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy run 6 years (Enforcement Decree art. 25(1) and (2)).
Master's and doctoral programs are each at least 2 years (Act art. 31(1)3).
A combined bachelor's-master's program is at least 6 years, and a combined master's-doctoral program at least 4 years (Act art. 31(1)2 and 31(1)4).

The academic year begins on 1 March and ends on the last day of the following February, and a school must hold at least 30 weeks of instruction each academic year (Act art. 20(1); Enforcement Decree art. 11(2)). Earning one credit takes at least 15 contact hours in a semester (Enforcement Decree art. 14(1)).

By contrast, there is no statutory minimum for total graduation credits. The law leaves the type of degree and the conditions for conferring it to each university's own regulations (Act art. 50(1); Enforcement Decree arts. 43 and 60), so graduation credits differ from school to school. Master's and doctoral students must complete the credits their university's rules require and then submit a thesis; for a master's degree, the rules may permit an alternative to the thesis (Enforcement Decree art. 44(1)).

Academic entry requirements sit in the law; language requirements sit with the university

For associate and bachelor's programs, an applicant must have graduated from high school, or be recognised under law as having an equivalent or higher level of education (Act art. 33(1)).
For a master's program or a combined master's-doctoral program, the applicant must hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent recognised standing (Act art. 33(3)).
For a doctoral program, the applicant must hold a master's degree or equivalent recognised standing (Act art. 33(4)).

Graduate schools are divided by educational purpose into general, professional and special graduate schools (Act art. 29-2(1)). Two master's programs with the same name can sit on opposite sides of that line - one built around academic research, the other around professional training - so check which one you are applying to before you apply.

Language requirements, by contrast, have no standard in law: each university sets them in its admissions guidelines. Of the 411 universities listed on this site, 187 hold IEQAS certification for degree programs, 124 hold it for language programs, and 215 run their own attached language institute (as of September 2026).

Exchange and visiting students do not receive a degree

The Study (D-2) status is granted to a person who will receive education in a regular curriculum, or conduct specific research, at a junior college or higher institution or at a research institute (Immigration Control Act Enforcement Decree, annex 1-2, item 5). Within that status, each program has its own code.

D-2-1 associate degree · D-2-2 bachelor's · D-2-3 master's · D-2-4 doctoral
D-2-5 research · D-2-6 exchange student · D-2-7 work-study · D-2-8 visiting student

Exchange students and visiting students hold that same Study (D-2) status. They earn no Korean degree and remain enrolled at their home university, yet for immigration purposes they sit in the same box as degree students. A Korean university may count credits earned at another school toward its own degree up to half of the credits required for graduation; where the curriculum is run jointly under an inter-university agreement, the range set in that agreement applies instead (Act art. 23(1); Enforcement Decree art. 15(1)1).

Language training is not study in this sense. Learning Korean at a university-attached language institute falls under General Training (D-4), code D-4-1. For both Study (D-2) and General Training (D-4), the maximum period of stay that can be granted at one time is 2 years (Immigration Control Act Enforcement Rules, annex 1).

Change the program and the money and the working hours change with it

Studying in Korea is not one single set of conditions. Change the program and every number below moves.

Proof of financial resources - degree programs require 20 million won in the Seoul metropolitan area and 16 million won elsewhere. Language training requires 10 million won and 8 million won.
Part-time work - without meeting the Korean-language requirement, associate and bachelor's students may work up to 10 hours a week and master's and doctoral students up to 15 hours. Meeting it raises the weekday allowance to 25 hours for undergraduates and 30 hours for master's and doctoral students (Ministry of Justice manual, as of 7 August 2026).
Health insurance - Study (D-2) holders are enrolled automatically as regional subscribers from the date of alien registration. General Training (D-4) holders become eligible only once 6 months have passed since entry.
Tuition - among the 394 universities on this site that list annual tuition, the median is 6.71 million won; the lowest is 762,000 won and the highest 23.33 million won.

Changing program means changing status as well - finishing language training (D-4) and moving into a degree program (D-2), or moving from a master's to a doctoral program. The fee for a change-of-status permit is 100,000 won, and an extension of stay is 60,000 won. Part-time work needs a separate permit for activity outside your status: the fee is normally 120,000 won, but 20,000 won for Study (D-2) and General Training (D-4) holders (Enforcement Rules art. 72, items 2, 5 and 6).

The 25,292 published majors on this site break down into 10,659 bachelor's, 9,521 master's and 5,112 doctoral programs. When you choose a program, look at those four numbers alongside the degree itself and the length of study.

Sources

Information on this page is current as of September 2026.