A University In South Korea Gifts Its Freshmen iPhones And AirPods

The Korea Times reports that Honam University in Gwangju, South Korea, has decided to gift its freshman students a number of AirPods and smartphones with a total value of 550,000 South Korean Won or around $481.

With this amount of money, there is no way students can get a new iPhone that is usually priced between $1,000 and $1,500 like some newspapers reported. This is the school’s new policy to attract students as many rural universities are lacking entry quota.

The main reason for this situation is that the declining birth rate causing the number of high school graduates to decrease gradually. Moreover, high school students tend to choose famous schools in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, or major cities instead of those in the countryside.

Similar to many other rural universities, the school is looking forward to attracting young talents to enroll and study at the school. Because Honam University is focusing on the research of artificial intelligence (AI), it has decided to give new students useful electronic devices.

Several other rural universities such as Kaya in South Gyeongsan Province, Daedul, Daejon City, and Dongyang of North Gyeongsang Province have also announced a scholarship of 1 million South Korean Won per new student.

However, local media stated that 2021 would be a difficult year for Korean universities as it was the first year that the number of students enrolling was less than the entry quota.

Figures from the Korean Ministry of Education show that universities and colleges are expected to welcome about 490,655 students in 2021 but there are only around 479,376 students are eligible to apply.

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