A Study on How to Enhance IndustrialCompetitiveness of Higher Education

In a knowledge based society, the competitiveness of higher education, which serves core roles such as knowledge creation and human resource development, is directly related to the national competitive power. Hereupon, the members of OECD are promoting careful policies to reinforce higher education. Among these policies, a tendency, which approaches higher education as a growth industry in a knowledge based society, is increasing. An industrial approach to higher education is expressed as conflict between public interest and profit seeking. One may, however, find a solution to the controversy by focusing on strengthening the quality of higher education, which should be encouraged by creating growth in the industry. South Korea’s higher education industry suffers from factors such as lack of strategy in specialized universities, high cost and low efficiency structure, absence of valid competition, and weakening in autonomy of universities, which are caused by regulations. Also, the gravity of higher education in national economy and labor productivity fails to satisfy the standards of developed countries...