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What studying in Korea really costs
Exact numbers vary by school, city, and lifestyle: but knowing the right order of magnitude is enough to catch overcharging. Every figure below carries its reference year.
What you pay the school
| Item | Range | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Language institute tuition (per 10-week term) | About KRW 1.5–1.7M (major Seoul universities, textbooks extra) | 2025 |
| Language institute, one year (4 terms) | Tuition alone about KRW 6–7M | 2025 |
| Estimated annual total per student (tuition + living + stay) | About KRW 16.17M: expect more today with inflation | 2022 policy study (cited by MOE) |
Degree tuition varies too much by university and major to summarize here: check the official admissions guide of each university (linked from the Study in Korea portal).
What you should NOT be paying
An agency’s legitimate income has two streams: a recruitment commission paid by the school, and a consulting/processing fee paid by you. The problem: there is no published market rate for that fee: so it becomes whatever they ask.
- Demand an itemized quote. Money that goes to the school (tuition, dormitory) and the agency’s own service fee must be separate lines.
- Pay tuition directly to the school’s account whenever possible. An agency insisting on collecting your tuition itself is a red flag.
- More red flags on the scam-check page.
The reality of "I will cover it with part-time work"
The 2026 minimum wage is KRW 10,320/hour (all industries). But student part-time work needs advance permission, and language students (D-4) can only start 6 months after arrival, at one workplace. Anyone telling you part-time work will cover full tuition either does not know the rules: or is lying.
The permit process is walked through step by step on the part-time work page.