Partnership with Vietnam's FPT University will allow local students to earn KNU degrees without studying in Korea
Kyungpook National University and Vietnam’s FPT University will sign a memorandum of agreement Thursday to operate a franchised degree program in Hanoi, the Ministry of Education said Tuesday.
A franchised degree program allows a foreign partner university to deliver the curriculum of a Korean university, enabling students to earn degrees from the Korean university without studying in Korea.
The initiative will mark the first time a South Korean public university has operated such a program overseas.
Kyungpook National University and FPT University will establish KNU Vietnam, which will offer Kyungpook National University’s curriculum starting in September. Students graduating from the program will receive the same degree as those graduating from Kyungpook National University’s main campus in Daegu.
FPT University was established in 2006 by Vietnam’s largest information technology firm, FPT, to cultivate talent in the IT sector.
Under the agreement, Kyungpook National University will provide its curriculum and degree program to FPT University for an undisclosed royalty fee, while FPT University will establish and operate the program in Hanoi.
The ministry said it hoped the newly founded institution would help Vietnam nurture high-performing talent domestically while allowing South Korea to expand the global reach of its higher education programs.
The Education Ministry added that it had been overhauling related regulations to better support the overseas expansion of Korean universities. It streamlined the establishment process by scrapping the requirement for prior ministry authorization and allowing franchised programs to proceed based on agreements between universities.
Universities were also granted greater autonomy in designing their curricula.
Currently, five Korean higher education institutions have been operating franchised programs abroad since 2022.
“The entry of a national university into Vietnam signals that the global expansion of Korea’s higher education system is in full swing,” Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said. “We will use this as a leading example and further strengthen the institutional framework so capable universities can pursue overseas expansion.”
seungku99@heraldcorp.com
