K-pop stars' scholarships irk students

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

From top, Four out of six members of Beast, Hyuna from 4 Minute and Goo Ha-ra from Kara have received either special admission or scholarships from their universities.

Colleges often award scholarships to K-pop stars and popular entertainers as their enrollment can be valuable assets for the promotion of a schools’ image.

However, many ordinary students who have to work various part-time jobs to pay tuition say the awarding of scholarships to young celebrities is unfair.

Members of prominent Korean bands such as Beast, 4 Minute and Kara have received special admissions or full scholarships from the universities they attend.

Four out of six members of Beast have been accepted to Dongshin University in South Jeolla Province with full four-year scholarships. Hyuna from 4 Minute received special admission to Konkuk University as an entertainer and Goo Ha-ra from Kara entered Sungshin Women’s University under a “superb performance” scholarship.

“Our school decided to give them special scholarships because they can boost the school’s image,” an official from Dongshin university said. “Their wide recognition can contribute to promoting the school.”

The members of Beast are exempt from paying the 3.4 million won tuition every semester. Hyuna has been exempt from paying her first semester’s tuition and will receive the scholarship for four years if she meets the required conditions. Kara’s Goo will receive a 70 percent discount for one year. She is the only student at her school receiving the scholarship.

But students think differently.

“If entertainers are receiving scholarships in entertainment-related departments in recognition of their success then I don’t have much problem with it. But if these people in ordinary departments like English literature receive scholarships when they don’t even attend classes, then I have a problem with it,” said Rhee Hae-ri from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. “I was in the same class with a pop star twice and I was angry that the person who didn’t even come to class could receive a good grade when everyone else was working so hard for it. Wouldn’t it be the same for scholarships?”

Others say awarding four-year scholarships to entertainers for whatever reason, is discriminating against other students.

“I understand that there could be a plus factor in the admissions process for being a K-pop star, but a four-year scholarship is way beyond the benefits they should be receiving,” said Min Sun-hee, a graduate student. “If schools give them scholarships for being famous, they are discriminating against other students.”

Other pop stars have been exempt from paying tuition by acting as their schools’ honorary ambassadors. Members of Shinee and 2AM are exempt from paying tuition as they model for their schools’ brochures and posters.

Schools give scholarships and acceptance letters to entertainers to increase publicity of the school. In turn, they can graduate with a degree without much pressure — a mutually beneficial agreement.

“This is a very common phenomenon,” said a former worker at JYP Entertainment, one of the largest entertainment companies in Korea. “When I worked at JYP, I saw many cases where pop stars are offered scholarships and are accepted into universities without much difficulty.”

Students say this is unfair.

“I’m a university student and the high tuition fee drives me crazy. Paying 4 million won every semester is not easy for people who have to earn it on their own,” said a student on his personal blog. “The tuition should be the same for entertainers as well. It’s just unfair to give them advantages when they already make a lot of money.”

The biggest case of celebrity favoritism arose when popular actress Moon Geun-young was admitted to Sungkyunkwan University, one of the top universities in Seoul, in 2005. Moon’s admission caused a stir as she was accepted through rolling admissions although she had said she would apply the regular way.

“Celebrities don’t like to talk about how they got into universities or how they received a scholarship because most of the time, the process isn’t so transparent,” said the former worker from JYP. “Many of them are accepted into universities through unscheduled admissions and pop stars donate so much money to the universities that the scholarships they receive sometimes seem like a money-back service.”

Source: Yun Suh-young @ The Korea Times

Comments

[dorkiilove.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if these Korean schools are like the University of Californias with their price hikes and such, but if people were accepted at my school because of their pop star status and combined with the fact that they were paying very little, there would be a uproar.

The fact that people are recieving scholarships without being exceptional at school, or are in poverty, etc amazes me, I mean don't they have like a committee and such.

[yunho.livejournal.com]

yeah....im going ucla next week and as an out of state student, tuition price is a killer. i'd be really pissed off too if they awarded scholarships to celebrities just like that.

I mean don't they have like a committee and such.

I think it's thanks to the "committee" that this even happens /smh

[itangeisha.livejournal.com]

Here we go again... but once again i totally feel the students. It's not as if those companies couldn't pay and as if celebs had time and will to go damn.

[noir-shiroi.livejournal.com]

The students are absolutely right of course. Let the people with all the money pay for their own damn schooling.

[consequences.livejournal.com]

thank you.

[saumon.livejournal.com]

i agree with the students completely. if i was one of them and worked my ass off to get into the university, and someone gets a scholarship just because they are famous, i will be legit pissed

[kms012.livejournal.com]

Same here.

[bamboolover.livejournal.com]

Totally unacceptable. Because of that kind of behaviour university degree is worthless.

[anconeous.livejournal.com]

Agree with the student's points. However, some celebs DO take their studies seriously, Lee Seunggi and Moon Geunyoung, for example. Both have near perfect attendance record and apparently really good grades, too. Their being celebrities might've given them an advantage, but they worked hard to keep their spots in their schools.

[aishiteruyuto23.livejournal.com]

your icon is <3

[epinette.livejournal.com]

I doubt there's even one

[epinette.livejournal.com]

Ugh they always get the easy way out ;/

[nissy-angel.livejournal.com]

money and title can buy you anything in asia..as much as i think it's unfair but this really doesn't surprise me.

[idyllise.livejournal.com]

anywhere in the world, not just asia really.

[x3sarang.livejournal.com]

Yep, there's absolutely no problem if the person receiving the scholarship has shown merit in the area that they're receiving it for like Hyuna, but some celebs are majoring in other stuff and I think that's where the indignity comes from. TBH I'd be like that too if I were in their position.

[miki-831.livejournal.com]

I would completely be pissed also. Since the pop stars barely show up to class but they don't have to pay any tuition or do any of the work for the degree, the school is basically handing the diploma to them for free.

If they are being a pop stars now, then do that instead of pretending to be students and taking scholarship money from students who need it much more than them.

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

It is absolutely unnacceptable that ceiba can effectively buy degrees while other students work really hard to earn qualifications. If celebrities want degree they should work for them like any other student.

[fay-of-sunshine.livejournal.com]

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
It's funny how people who have tons of money rarely have to pay for all the shit they have.

[yolleh.livejournal.com]

This.
Like the hoards of freebies celebrities get is ridiculous :/

[aishiteruyuto23.livejournal.com]

i wouldn`t mind if an idol was offered a scholarship if he/she was admitted to the school cuz they passed the test.
i`m against the idea of just passing an idol in a certain school (prolly cuz they showed interest in going there?) because at least, if he/she took the entrance exam, like really studied for it, it gives off the impression they actually show interest in their studies, and will make an effort to attend classes...

[adliboverplay.livejournal.com]

wow. who on earth made these decisions to award them with scholarships?
im guessing the marketing and PR department, not the scholarship committee.

imo, its outrageous to award free education to idols who can't even make the time to turn up for lessons half the time. they're robbing students who are talented yet lack the funds to pursue their dream. im wondering if the idols who accepted the scholarships gave a thought about that.

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

Damn that is unfair. I agree with the person who said it would be okay if they got a scholarship for their field. I can see why colleges would though. Colleges spend money on advertising and having celebs go to their school brings in attention so they might put this under their advertising budget.

[shisukachan.livejournal.com]

I agree with the students completely. The points they made were reasonable and understandable.

If a K-Pop star, who is unlikely to attend many classes or frequently study (idol's schedules are insane, we all know that), was given a four-year scholarship to attend my university for a major other than entertainment-related, I'd be raising an eyebrow.

There are some celebrities like Lee Seunggi who do take their studies seriously and keep a good attendence record which is admirable and some celebrities who major in entertainment-related areas which is helpful for their career so I'm okay with them.

Students work extremely hard to get into a good university and to be given even a two-year scholarship is hard.

[emiliecious.livejournal.com]

OT but how do idols graduate when they barely attend lessons? How can they even pass anything?

[nene718.livejournal.com]

As long as they're getting the publicity they want, I doubt the universities care that they never attend.

[idyllise.livejournal.com]

Four out of six members of Beast have been accepted to Dongshin University in South Jeolla Province with full four-year scholarships

obviously they wouldn't be attending school since jeollanamdo is 6 hours away from Seoul. they wouldn't be there at all.

[complexflowers.livejournal.com]

They already don't have time for school it amazes me that they get accepted/go at all, and the last thing I'd be offering to them is money to attend my school. Besides that it makes the school look good, I really can't see any other defense for celebrities being offered the scholarships, especially when their company could probably pay for it.

[hopeandmemory.livejournal.com]

as someone who got rejected from good schools just because i couldn't pay for them, this is SOME BULLSHIT. god damn, these idols actually have money. let them pay for their own education ffs. totally siding with the students on this one. :|

[naj-mahal.livejournal.com]

I don't care about accepting them, but idols can totally pay for their own tuition. Give that money to someone who really needs it.

[nene718.livejournal.com]

yeah that's fucked up. I can understand doing it for athletes because sports bring spirit/entertainment for the students and a lot of revenue for the school (if the team's good at least), but for pop stars? I would tear shit up. Colleges are all businesses at the end of the day, but the academics should be the top priority.

[yolleh.livejournal.com]

When I go to uni next year, I'm gonna have to pay 9k a year for 4 years not including accommodation and general living fees.
That's basically almost 50k that I sure as hale don't have.

If a celebrity swooped in and took my scholarship, I'd sure raise hell!

[shinobu-kokoro.livejournal.com]

yup completely agree with you...totally not fair that everyone else has to foot the bill for tuition while they get a free ride just because their famous.

Personally, I would never choose a university based on how many celebrities students attended the amount of xxx-famous alumni went there.

I feel you I'm going back to grad school next year and I'm looking at another 20k for school *sighs* the price us regular folk pay for not being famous :X

[stillwaiting.livejournal.com]

As a college student, I totally feel for these students. I'd hate to know that someone who is privileged/famous and didn't even have to take admissions tests got a /scholarship/ into the school for 4 years.

I mean, I understand if it is just a year or whatever, but 4 years is a tad too much no? Especially since they barely attend class and they are just in the school to promote it.

I find it kind of selfish on the universities part because instead of having students that will excel and have bright futures from that school, you rather give that spot to some famous person so they can promote the school. Really unfair.