Private Sogang University (SU) was set up in 1960 and has earned a reputation as one of Korea’s best research universities. It is a Catholic university in the heart of South Korea’s capital, Seoul – one of the world’s most modern and advanced cities.

Students at SU get to study three majors, so they graduate with a wide range of skills and knowledge. All students leave with critical thinking skills, a business-focused mindset, technical knowledge and an internationally recognised degree.

SU teaches its students leadership skills and aims to make them brilliant members of society. In fact, its alumni include a former president, and former ministers and mayors.  Now, it’s home to more than 4,000 international students who come from more than 80 countries.  

Undergraduate degrees at Sogang University are four-year programmes. The programmes are taught in Korean and English. There are seven different types of scholarships available at Sogang which help with the cost of students’ studies and living in Seoul.

SU is known for its research, which is respected across the world. There are 27 undergraduate departments and one graduate school with 24 departments. Students can take lots of courses in English at either level, including social sciences, natural sciences and engineering.

SU has lots of great facilities. The gym has 3,500 seats and has basketball, volleyball and racquetball courts, a skiing facility and a weight training room. Gonzaga Hall, located on campus, has rooms for up to 900 students. The university offers international students excellent scholarships and extra help with housing, medical insurance and social support.

SU is seen as a great school for international students. Some of the smartest people in the world study here, and local students come mostly from the top one per cent in the national college entrance exam. Lots of SU’s alumni have jobs in some of Korea’s biggest corporations. More than 40,000 alumni work in influential positions in different industries.

Learn more about studying at SU:

Teaching quality

Entry requirements

Scholarships & funding

University structure

Facilities

Student support

Graduate outcomes

Teaching quality

SU works hard to keep its reputation as a great place to study and as a world-leading researcher. It has a Committee for Research Excellence, which makes sure all work produced by SU meets the standards everyone expects. There are also lots of offices that look after everything from research promotion to the university’s business centre.  

Even though SU is a Catholic university, students do not need to be religious to attend. Everything it does is based on conscience, competence, compassion and commitment – which means things are done with heart and to a great standard.

There are 27 undergraduate departments across nine schools and 25 graduate departments, plus five ‘interdisciplinary’ programmes. Undergraduate programmes are taught in Korean and English, and 30 per cent of graduate programmes are taught in English. If students aren’t sure what their future holds, they can choose an ‘interdisciplinary’ course. These courses teach students about a variety of subjects so they have plenty of options after graduation.

Entry requirements

To study an undergraduate course at Sogang University, students must have finished high school in their home country. They should also have their secondary qualifications, such as A levels or international equivalents.

An undergraduate degree at Sogang University is a four-year programme and is delivered in Korean and English. Each academic year is split into two semesters: Spring and Autumn. More information regarding entry requirements is available on the Sogang University Website.

Students can choose to major in, or study, up to three different subjects during their time at SU. There are over 600 combinations across eight schools. Students have full control of which subjects they pick.

English Score Required

Students need to show they have a good understanding of English to study at SU. A score of 80 on a TOEFL or a score of 5.5 on an IELTS examination will be accepted. Students will also need to take Korean classes until they reach TOPIK level 4.

Admission

To get admission to Sogang University, students need to apply online through the Office of International Affairs and Jinhak Apply. For the spring semester, they should apply in November – December. To join in autumn, students need to apply between April and May. The university has a detailed application guide that takes students through the process in English. It explains every document they will need to upload.

Once they have been offered a place, students need to pay a deposit of around KRW 400,000. This fee may be different from course to course. Tuition fees are between KRW 4.6 million and KRW 5.7 million – which is around USD 3,200 to USD 4000. They will also need to apply for a student visa, which can take up to three months. To get one, students need to show they have a certain amount of money to support themselves. For one year of study, this is around USD 10,000.

Scholarships & funding

There are seven different types of international scholarships available at SU.

• Admission Scholarship 1 is given to students who score in the top five per cent in their admission test. They’re given a full scholarship for eight semesters, covering course and admission fees.
• Admission Scholarship 2 is given to students who score in the top 10 per cent. They get a 50 per cent scholarship for one semester.
• Admission Scholarship 3 is given to the top 25 per cent of successful candidates and they get a 20 per cent scholarship for their first semester.
• Admission Scholarship 4 is given to the top 50 per cent of candidates. They do not have to pay admission fees.
• Global Emerging Scholarship 1 is offered to students based on financial, academic and other criteria. They get a full scholarship for eight semesters.

Global Emerging Scholarship 2 is offered to students based on financial, academic and other criteria. They get a 50 per cent scholarship for eight semesters.

• Global Emerging Scholarship 3 gives certain students a 20 per cent scholarship for eight semesters.

University structure

There are 27 undergraduate departments across nine schools and 25 graduate departments. There are also five ‘interdisciplinary’ programmes. Currently, there are around 11,199 undergraduate students and 439 full-time professors. Around 4,000 students are part of the masters and doctoral programmes.

Every year, around 3,000 international students come to Sogang University. It’s an exciting place where students can make friends from all around the world and learn more about South Korean culture. SU is spread across 60 acres of land and its president is Jong-hyeok Sim.

The Sogang Korean Language Education Centre (KLEC) was set up in 1990 to spread the Korean language and culture throughout the world. To date, more than 30,000 students have studied Korean culture and language here. An average of 3,500 students register for the Korean Language Education Centre every year.

Sogang Business School (SBS) offers graduate-level management programmes, which are ranked among the top five programmes in the country. The full-time MBA programmes at Sogang Business School are taught in partnership with top-ranking global business schools, including the University of Minnesota and Cass School of Business in London.

Facilities

The Loyola Library of Sogang University is a four-storey building which was the first fully open-shelf system in Korea. The library is now spread over three buildings. There is also the Law Library on the first floor of Hall X. In 2010, SU opened the U-Dream Hall for classes, exhibitions and events.

The Humanities Café, called Forest of Contemplation, was opened in 2017, and the Loyola Lee Ju Yeon Gallery was opened in 2018. The campus bookshop has textbooks and reference documents for most of the classes offered at the university. There are also novels and school supplies used in the courses.

There is food available from daily bars at different locations on campus. The Gonzaga Hall café serves food for students on a meal plan.

During the examination period, a night-time snack bar is available at the Faculty Restaurant, located on the first floor of Berchmans Hall. For those students who are studying hard for their exams, these snacks are available at low rates.

There are lots of sports facilities at SU too. The huge gym has basketball, volleyball and racquetball courts and 3,500 seats. There is also an indoor climbing wall, skiing slope and weight training room. The space also has two sound-proof rooms where students can make music. Outside, there are tennis and basketball course and a large sports field.

Gonzaga Plaza is a shopping centre with restaurants, cafes and shops. Students will find a food court, book shop, convenience store and an opticians.

Accommodation

The main international accommodation is Gonzaga Hall. It is located on campus and has space for up to 900 students. The main language here is English, so international students can practice their skills and make new friends. The only condition is that they are for students at Sogang. Students can choose to pay for a meal plan, which gets them breakfast and dinner.

Each room has a bed, desk, chair, wardrobe, shoe cabinet and internet cable. It also has a toilet and shower room. Within the building, there is a cafe, gym, chapel, laundry room and ping-pong table. There are also shared refrigerators and microwaves on each floor. Internet, electricity & water fees are included in the housing fees.

Student support

SU has a ‘One Stop Service Station’. It’s where international students can get support with a wide range of issues, including help with disabilities or health issues, applications for temporary leave and study abroad programmes. The One Stop also has a lost and found desk and printers.  

There is a welcome event for new students held every year to introduce the new international students to university life. Another event helps international students adjust to life at university in South Korea. Once the semester begins, a sports event for new students is held.

There are lots of events held every year which give international students a chance to make new friends and learn more about Korean culture. These include the Sunrise Festival at the start of the semester and the Daedongjae K-Pop Festival every May.

Volunteer Activities for Rural Communities is held three times a year during spring, summer and autumn. Activities involve visiting rural communities and doing volunteer work.

The Student Club Association supports the activities of student clubs and works on various activities to promote student culture and students’ welfare. There are about six sections and 70 student clubs at SU. When there is rain or snow outside and students don’t have an umbrella, they can visit the office of the student association and borrow one for free. It must be returned after use.

Support Centre for Students with Disabilities (SCSD) helps students with disabilities find the right equipment and support and let teachers know what sort of adjustments need to be made. There is also a counselling centre, which offers professional support to students who are struggling.

Graduate outcomes

SU has the highest rate of graduate employment in major corporations in Korea. More than 40,000 alumni now work in big businesses across the country, and the world. SU is one of the country’s best private universities, so anyone with a degree from here will be seen as an excellent new employee.

SU is among the top five business schools in Korea. Its graduates were the most likely to get jobs out of any graduates in Korea in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Based on its reputation, the school has regularly attracted the best talent, mostly from the top one per cent in the national college entrance exam.

Notable alumni include Park Geun-Hye, 18th president of the Republic of Korea, Park Young-Sun, minister of SMEs and Startups (2019–present). Suh Byung-Soo, member of the National Assembly and former mayor of Busan (2014–2018), also studied here.