This year's summer graduation ceremony for international students -- the first such event for the E-7-4 degree program -- is held on Aug. 20 at Cheju Halla University in Jeju City, Jeju Island. (Cheju Halla University)

By Margareth Theresia

The number of international students at domestic universities nearly doubled from 2017 through last year, with a greater diversity in their countries of origin.

The dropout rates among them also declined over the past two years.

The Ministry of Education and the Korean Educational Development Institute on Nov. 1 said this in the 17th issue of the report "Understanding Korean Education Through Data" released that day.

With the number of foreign students breaking 300,000 this year, the report analyzed changes in enrollment and countries of origin at four-year and industrial universities and junior colleges from 2017-25, as well as dropout rates from 2023-25.

The data said the number of such students at general and industrial universities surged 70.4% from 90,095 in 2017 to 153,477 last year. The figure for junior colleges ballooned an amazing 504.6% from 6,163 to 37,260, growing some six-fold over the period.

By country of origin, the number of Chinese students at general and industrial universities fell from 53,943 in 2017 to 44,804 last year, reflecting a major drop in the overall share from 59.9% to 29.2%. The figure for Vietnamese students shot up from 9,856 to 44,082, boosting their share from 10.9% to 28.7%.

As a result, the number of Chinese and Vietnamese students showed similar levels last year. More from countries like Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Nepal and Myanmar also made the student population more diverse, in contrast to the previous dominance of those from China.

The number of Vietnamese students at junior colleges leaped from 2,766 in 2017 to 22,342 last year, raising their share of all international students from 44.9% to 60%.

The dropout rates among such students declined at both general and industrial universities and junior colleges. The rate in the former category fell from 6.85% in 2023 to 5.6% last year, while the figures at junior colleges went from 10.02% to 7.23%.

margareth@korea.kr