[Student Reporters] Foreign Exchange Rate Skyrockets and Number of Student Going Overseas Plummets

The Korean won has reached its lowest value in 11 years-1570 won for 1 U.S. dollar- diminishing the popularity of studying overseas for Korean families. In the last several years the value of the Korean won was increasing allowing Korean parents to send their children to study in the United States. However due to the nose dive of the Korean won the opposite is happening now. In 2007 about 350000 Korean students were going abroad beating China in the number of students that were studying overseas and this was due to the high value of the Korean won.

Nevertheless due to the plummeting value of the won many students have given up on studying in the United States. According to the statistics from the Bank of Korea the money used for studying overseas was about 167.7million dollars which is about a 51.5% decrease from the 342.8million dollars that was spent in September of 2007. The Korean government has teamed up with the United States to promote the WEST project but could not hide from the economic crisis. This project was implemented by President Lee with the consent of then-president Bush in August 2008 to allow Korean university students become interns at American companies. The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade selected 352 individuals but 135 students decided not to participate in the program.

Due to the great drop in the value of the Korean won the life of a student studying abroad has changed. With the rise in tuition rates male students are choosing to serve their time in the military. Many Korean students are trying to find part-time jobs from private tutoring to working in bars so they can help their parents. Parents with children that are studying overseas are going through tough times. Because the amount of money their children need have increased lots of parents are working two jobs or taking on jobs with higher pay. To avoid spending more money than necessary some parents are making spreadsheets to calculate the best time to send money to their child. Despite all these efforts lots of parents cannot keep up with the rising value of the dollar compared to the won.

If the exchange rates do not stabilize until June it is projected that many students studying abroad will be coming back home. It will be an unpredictable time for the parents and students who are studying overseas.