The present study investigated how Korea National Open University (Hereinafter referred to
as “KNOU”) could be developed and shaped into Korea’s most represented open university
from a mere solution to a social problem with students who failed university entrance exam in
the past. To answer this question, the study focused on the driving force behind the KNOU
growth along with the concept of projected student population in the Korean higher education.
In 1972, the Korean government established ‘Air and Correspondence College’ as a two-year
junior college, annexed to Seoul National University to accommodate the student population that
failed the university entrance exam. Nevertheless, the majority of the KNOU student population
has been, in fact, made up of part-time adult students.
And since the growth of KNOU has been so rapid, there is no educational institution in the
world with which KNOU can be compared. Throughout its history, KNOU has adopted open
admission policies and distance teaching methods to provide higher education to the general
public who did not have educational opportunities due to their economic or any other reasons.
Moreover since the establishment, the number of students at KNOU has increased rapidly, and
in the late 1980s when the number of registered students exceeded 200,000, it has become one
of the 11 largest ‘Mega Universities’ in the world.
In conclusion, under the unbalanced growth of higher education and secondary education
from the 1960’s to 1990's, the educational aspiration of Koreans has been the driving force
behind the KNOU growth.