caption:  Compared to other schools, Ewha provides fewer large scholarships.

 

             “Last semester, my GPA was 4.01: I got six A pluses and one B. I thought I could get at least one half of my tuition refunded as a scholarship. However, I only got one-fourth of my tuition back this semester and I am so frustrated that I do not want to study that hard again,” said one sophomore majoring in Art, who wishes to remain anonymous. “I expected the amount of scholarship would increase with this year’s high tuition fees. However, the percentage of students who can receive scholarships are the same as last year,” she said. These are common complaints, even from the students who get scholarships. And more critical voices are being heard now that tuition fees have increased by 7.7 percent this year.

Limiting discussion to scholarships for academic achievement, Ewha offers a full scholarship to the student with the highest GPA in each department for the year. Students whose GPA for one semester is within the top two percent get scholarships which amount to 50 percent of tuition. Students in the top six percent for one semester are given a scholarship of 25 percent of the total tuition. In addition, Ewha offers 400,000 won scholarships to all students whose GPA is over 3.75. Does Ewha really give out few scholarships compared to other universities?

             Ewha is not the school with the most generous scholarship policy.Sungkyunkwan University offers students within the top five percent in each department scholarships amounting to 70 percent of tuition fees. Kyunghee University has a scholarship system under control of each college, but its School of English gave full scholarships to two students and half scholarships to five students among 90 sophomores this semester, or 2.2 percent full scholarships and 7.7 percent half scholarships, respectively. The College of Human Ecology in Yonsei University gave six students half scholarships (top five percent); 12 students one-third scholarships (the next 10 percent) out of a total of 120 sophomore students.

             However, according to the Student Welfare Center, the total scholarship money that Ewha offers cannot be considered a small amount. “If students feel that the school gives them little scholarship money, it may be because of the large number of scholarship recipients whose GPA is over 3.75. The number is so large that we cannot consider about increasing the amount of other scholarships, those for students with the top GPAs,” said a staff member at the Student Welfare Center. Last semester, 1,316 students received scholarships for having a GPA over 3.75, and no other universities have such a scholarship program.

             Contrary to the small amount of scholarships for great achievers in academics, many vacancies are seen for disadvantaged students. “The number of applicants for welfare scholarships is relatively small, even though the school has designated large amounts of scholarship money for poor students,” said a staff member at the Student Welfare Center.

             According to Oh Yu-kyung (Economics, 2), however, the scholarships for top performances mean a lot to students because they are a motivation to study as well as financial aids. “Increasing the percentage of students who can get full, half and quarter scholarships is important. While the scholarship offered to students whose GPA is above 3.75 also need to be retained, I don’t think that the school has to offer as many welfare scholarships if there are many vacancies,” said Oh.

“I think the school should increase the required score if the large number of 400,000 won scholarships recipients is the problem. Instead, the school should increase the number of students who receive larger scholarships, such as a full and half coverage,” said Park Eun-hyung (Political Science & Diplomacy, 2).

“It is crucial for the school to reveal the details of how scholarships are given to students. Students have the right to know how much of their tuition fees are used for scholarships,” Lee Min-woo (Economics, 2) said. “Also, the school should survey students about the scholarships and take the results into consideration when deciding the percentages of scholarship recipients,” added Lee.

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