University students are taking longer to finish their degree as opportunities for travel open up. According to figures by the National Statistical Office in July, 39.3 percent of university students had taken a leave of absence, and the average time it took to graduate from a four-year university was 5.3 years.
The first generation of university students who took a leave of absence appeared in 1989 with the liberalization of overseas travel, which allowed students to attend language course and other programs abroad, but the number was minimal. However, with the tide of globalization in the mid 1990s, companies began to require fluent English from new recruits, and the number of students taking leave to study English abroad started to snowball.
But the real threshold came in 1997, when the Asian crisis forced the country to seek help from the International Monetary Fund. A frozen job market and suddenly impoverished homes forced increasing numbers of students to take a leave of absence. The trend continued in the 2000s.
Students in other countries also take leave to earn money for tuition, but the difference in Korea is that taking a leave of absence to prepare for the job market is now practically taken for granted. "American and Japanese university students prefer to gain professional experience while maintaining the status of enrolled student by doing internships during the summer vacation or going on exchange programs abroad. But it seems that Korean students prefer to temporarily hang up their studies due to the extreme stress of finding job," says Park Shin-suk, a professor of mechanical engineering at Korea University who studied in Japan and the United States.
The primary factor was the chronic difficulty finding jobs. The fall of universities from ivory towers to job market preparation mills is another reason. One professor said, "Because universities failed to function as the place for advanced studies, students do not put too much meaning in university life, and their goal is just to get a degree. That is why so many university students are prolonging their status as students meaninglessly by taking a leave of absence."
