The University of Seoul is a public university located in Seoul, South Korea. It was founded as Kyung Sung Public Agricultural College in 1918 and renamed the University of Seoul in 1997. UOS is one of top 3 universities without medical school in Korea in 2012. According to 2015 report from The Times Higher Education, UOS ranked 7th among the all Korean universities and 49th among all the Asian universities. In another survey, UOS ranked 14th in the Asian midsize universities. UOS was reported the best value public university in Korea, with high financial investment and scholarship amount per student. Students' affinity to the school was ranked in the first place and students' satisfaction is in the second according to a 2010 survey. UOS is famous for a large number of alumni working as national or municipal government officials. UOS is specialized in College of Urban Science and has top-tier programs of environmental engineering, taxation, transportation engineering, urban planning and design, landscape architecture, and urban administration. In 2012, the mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon, implemented a campaign promise, "Half-priced tuition" as soon as he started his term. The half-priced tuition was initiated in UOS first so that it would drive other universities to decrease their tuition. In 2013, UOS tuition per semester ranged from $915 to $1,441. Because of high quality of education and low tuition of UOS, admission process has been more competitive. And student's satisfaction is still very high. In 2012, the registration rate of new students was very high and the withdrawal rate of students was extremely low, compared with other universities in Seoul. Because UOS students think that they take a lot of financial and educational benefits from the Seoul government, most of them participate in social works. Number of social work volunteers in 2012 was 3,105 and is expected to increase.
Overview
Of Seoul, for Seoul
UOS is a public university funded and supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Seoul is the economic, political, and cultural center of Korea for about 600 years. Academic programs of UOS have been set to support necessities of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Hence, UOS functions as a think-tank in formulating and supporting the major policy goals of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, along with basic research and education. UOS has a goal of becoming an international center for the urban sciences. UOS has a specialized college, College of Urban Science.
Faculty and Students
Because the Seoul Metropolitan Government supported 70% of an annual budget, UOS is one of the best value public universities. UOS has the lowest student-faculty ratio, the highest financial investment per student, and the highest rate of scholarship recipients in South Korea. In addition, most administrative staff in UOS are affiliated in the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Community Outreach
UOS has long been providing services for Seoul and Seoul citizens. In particular, UOS provides a diverse range of training programs for the municipal officials, national government officials, and experts in the public sector. From 1997, UOS provides Seoul citizens with lifelong education in UOS Open University located in the central Seoul, Kwanghwa-mun. UOS Open University provides a broad range of education programs including languages, technologies, Seoul Study, and various cultural activities. UOS has vocational and educational programs for more than 5,000 Seoulites annually in Continuing Education Center. The Social Welfare Center located in the main campus provides a wide range of social services for more than 100,000 senior citizens and disabled citizens a year.
History
1918 Founded as Kyung Sung Public Agricultural College
1946 Seoul national university was re-organized by US implementation
1956 Promoted to four-year college and renamed Seoul Agricultural College
1975 Oversight committee transferred from the Seoul Board of Education to Seoul Metropolitan Government
1981 Renamed Seoul City University
1987 Renamed as University of Seoul and promoted to comprehensive university
1993 Founded the Institute of Seoul Studies under the auspices of the Seoul Metropolitan Government
1996 Founded the College of Urban Sciences
1997 Established the university's unique identity as a Mecca for the Urban Sciences Designated as the Distinguished University in the Urban Sciences by the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development
1998 Founded the Institute of Urban Sciences
2003 Launched Strategic Plan 2003–2007, "Upgrade University of Seoul"
2003, 2004 Redesignated as the Distinguished University centered on the Urban Sciences by the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development
2005 Founded the Institute for International Cooperation and Education
Students who take this course can choose a major freely when becoming sophomore.
Division of Liberal Arts and Teacher’s Education
This division offers liberal arts courses, which contains writing, debating, mathematics, natural science, physical education and so on. It also offers courses needed to be a teacher.
Graduate School
The Graduate School has 35 courses for master's degrees and 25 courses for doctoral degrees. In addition, there's specialized graduate schools as follows.
