Private Tutoring Costs Hit Record $436 Monthly Amid Education Crisis

South Korea's monthly private tutoring expenses per student have surpassed 600,000 won ($436) for the first time, driven by economic polarization and declining school-age population.

According to the "2025 Elementary, Middle, and High School Private Education Expenditure Survey" released by the National Data Agency on the 12th, total private education spending for elementary, middle, and high school students fell to 27.5 trillion won last year, down 1.7 trillion won (5.7%) from the previous year—the first decline in five years.

However, monthly spending per student receiving private tutoring reached a record 604,000 won. During the same period, the student population decreased by 120,000 (2.3%) to 5.02 million, and private education participation rates dropped 3.5 percentage points, yet per-student spending still increased.

This demonstrates that Korea's private tutoring fever remains unabated. Deep-rooted structural problems in public education lie at the core. Extreme early learning programs such as "elementary school medical school prep classes" and growing demand to complete college entrance exam subjects during middle school have intensified dependence on private tutoring.

Behind this phenomenon lies public education's failure to meet students' academic needs, compounded by parents' anxiety over the breakdown of education as a ladder for social mobility. More troubling is the widening gap in private education spending across income levels and regions. While high-income households increase tutoring expenditures, low-income families are being forced to abandon private education due to financial constraints.

The harms of excessive private education spending are countless. Above all, it erodes household disposable income and threatens to accelerate the domestic consumption slump. It is also a key driver of Korea's world-lowest fertility rate of 0.8 births per woman. This is precisely why education organizations including the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations issued a statement on the same day urging immediate action to address private education polarization and normalize public education.

The solution to this crisis ultimately lies in normalizing public education. The Ministry of Education's measures to ease private education burdens, scheduled for release this month, must include plans to enhance public education quality through excellence-oriented and customized learning. Reform of the education grant system, which runs counter to the declining student population trend, must not be delayed. Education reform cannot wait any longer, but it will not happen overnight. We must proceed steadily under the principle of public education normalization, with a long-term perspective.