The Ministry of Education announced Wednesday that the legal cap on university tuition increases for the 2026 academic year has been set at 3.19%.
The figure represents 1.2 times the average consumer price inflation rate over the previous three years (2023-2025).
Next year's tuition increase cap is 2.3 percentage points lower than this year's limit of 5.49%. The decrease reflects amendments to the Higher Education Act that lowered the ceiling from 1.5 times to 1.2 times the three-year average inflation rate, as well as the unusually high inflation rate in 2022.
According to the National Data Center, inflation in 2022 reached 5.1%. In contrast, the rates included in this year's calculation were 3.6% for 2023 and 2.3% for 2024. The inflation rate for 2025, calculated from January through November, stands at 2.1%.
Although smaller than this year's cap, tuition increases are expected to continue at most private universities next year. According to a survey released December 16 by the Korean Council for University Presidents, 46 of 154 member universities said they plan to raise tuition. Thirty-four schools said they are still in discussions, while only seven said they plan to freeze tuition.
The Ministry of Education said it will advise universities to comply with regulations on the composition and operation of tuition deliberation committees and considerations for tuition calculation as stipulated in the Higher Education Act and related laws.
