Guide
How much does it cost to study Korean in Korea?
A year of intensive Korean at a university language institute costs between roughly 5.4 and 7.5 million KRW in tuition, plus living costs. Here are the published 2026 fees, institute by institute, and a realistic full-year budget.
This guide prices the language year itself. For what these programs are and how they work, see the Korean language programs overview. All tuition figures below are the institutes' published 2026 fees, taken from their official pages in June 2026. Every institute states that fees can change, so confirm the current number on the institute's own site before you budget.
- Tuition is per 10-week term, and a full year is four terms. There is no single annual fee.
- Seoul's big-name institutes cluster at 1.65 to 1.86 million KRW per term in 2026, which makes a four-term year roughly 7.2 to 7.5 million KRW.
- Regional national universities are much cheaper: about 1.35 to 1.5 million KRW per term, or 5.4 to 6 million KRW for the year.
- Living costs usually exceed tuition. In Seoul, plan on 1.0 to 1.6 million KRW per month on top of your fees.
- A realistic Seoul language year is about 19 to 27 million KRW all-in before flights. A regional city can cut that meaningfully.
- Do not plan to fund the year with part-time work. The D-4 visa's work rules are too restrictive for that.
Tuition per term at the major institutes
Each term is 10 weeks, about 200 class hours. Where an institute prices its morning and afternoon tracks differently, both are shown.
| Item | KRW | USD (approx) |
|---|---|---|
Yonsei KLI (Seoul) Regular Program. Application fee 120,000 KRW | 1,860,000 | About 1,380 |
Sogang KLEC (Seoul) Morning / afternoon. Application fee 100,000 KRW | 1,860,000 / 1,800,000 | About 1,380 / 1,330 |
SNU LEI (Seoul) Morning / afternoon. Application fee 100,000 KRW | 1,800,000 / 1,650,000 | About 1,330 / 1,220 |
Korea University KLC (Seoul) Application fee 120,000 KRW | 1,800,000 | About 1,330 |
Ewha Language Center (Seoul) 1,850,000 from the Winter 2026 term. Application fee 100,000 KRW | 1,800,000 | About 1,330 |
Hanyang IIE (Seoul) 1,850,000 from the Fall 2026 term. Application fee 150,000 KRW | 1,800,000 | About 1,330 |
Pusan National LEI (Busan) Morning / afternoon, materials included. Application fee 80,000 KRW | 1,500,000 / 1,350,000 | About 1,110 / 1,000 |
Kyungpook National (Daegu) Application fee 70,000 KRW | 1,400,000 | About 1,040 |
Two patterns worth noticing. First, the afternoon track is cheaper than the morning track at several institutes (SNU, Sogang, Pusan National) for the same 200 hours. Second, the regional national universities charge 20 to 30 percent less than the Seoul names for the same term structure.
Housing: the real variable
Some institutes offer dormitories to language students, always with limits:
- Korea University houses new KLC students in Frontier Hall at 1,400,000 KRW per term (double room, first come first served, one term maximum).
- Hanyang offers residence halls at about 1,630,000 to 1,880,000 KRW per term for new students, up to two terms.
- Yonsei offers housing near campus but caps it at roughly 10 percent of students per term.
- Sogang offers a dormitory only with its short summer program; regular-term students arrange their own housing.
Most language students therefore rent privately: a goshiwon (a small furnished room, no deposit) or a one-room apartment (cheaper monthly, but with a deposit of 2 to 10 million KRW). As a monthly range, housing in Seoul runs about 300,000 to 700,000 KRW, in line with the broader figures in our cost of studying in Korea guide.
A monthly budget on top of tuition
Living costs for a language student look the same as for a degree student:
| Item | KRW | USD (approx) |
|---|---|---|
Housing Goshiwon or dorm at the low end, one-room higher | 300,000 to 700,000 | 220 to 520 |
Food Cooking at home is the biggest saving | 400,000 to 600,000 | 300 to 445 |
Transport Subway and bus with a transit card | 60,000 to 80,000 | 45 to 60 |
Phone, utilities, misc Mobile plan, internet, personal spending | 240,000 to 420,000 | 180 to 310 |
Monthly total Excludes tuition | 1,000,000 to 1,600,000 | 740 to 1,185 |
Add one recurring item degree students on scholarships often have covered: national health insurance. Foreigners staying past six months are enrolled in NHIS, and the student rate is around 79,000 KRW per month in 2026 (after the 50 percent international student reduction). Details are in the D-4 visa guide.
The full-year total
Four terms of tuition plus twelve months of living:
| Item | KRW | USD (approx) |
|---|---|---|
Seoul institute, modest living About 7.2M tuition + 12 x 1.0 to 1.3M living | 19,000,000 to 23,000,000 | 14,100 to 17,000 |
Seoul institute, comfortable living About 7.4M tuition + 12 x 1.4 to 1.6M living | 24,000,000 to 27,000,000 | 17,800 to 20,000 |
Regional national university About 5.4 to 6M tuition + noticeably cheaper housing | 13,000,000 to 17,000,000 | 9,600 to 12,600 |
There is also money you must show but do not spend: the financial proof for the D-4 visa. The Ministry of Justice review standard is a bank balance of 10,000,000 KRW for institutes in the Seoul capital region and 8,000,000 KRW elsewhere, though the exact figure your embassy asks for can differ. The D-4 visa guide covers it.
How to bring the cost down
- Go regional. The same 4-hours-a-day, 200-hours-a-term structure costs 5.4 to 6 million KRW per year in Busan or Daegu instead of 7.2 to 7.5 million in Seoul, and housing is cheaper too.
- Check the afternoon track. At SNU the afternoon class saves 150,000 KRW per term over the morning class; at Pusan National the gap is similar.
- Look at institute scholarships. Some institutes award partial tuition scholarships to top students per level (Sogang and Hanyang publish theirs on their sites).
- If your real goal is a degree, consider GKS. The Global Korea Scholarship includes a fully funded year of Korean at a designated institute before the degree begins. The wider fully funded scholarships guide lists other routes.
What to do next
- Compare the institutes behind these numbers in the institute guide.
- Plan the application itself with the how to apply guide.
- Read the D-4 visa guide for the financial proof you will need to show.