Mentor of Korean youth, Professor KIM Ran Do of SNU's College of Human Ecology donated 100 million KRW to establish the 'Hope Scholarship' on September 9. Professor Kim's donation will be spent to support economically challenged students who have to worry about paying their living expenses and therefore cannot concentrate on their studies.

Professor Kim said,"I decided to make this donation in the hope of helping a lot of young people who are being forced to work to earn a living due to the excessive burden of tuition fees and the rising cost of living when they should be concentrating on learning." Professor Kim also said that he"decided to start near, where his own students are studying and trying to realize their dreams", and added that he would like to do more and find other ways to help more students and young people who are in difficult situations.

Professor Kim Ran Do is better known as the author of the million-selling book,"Youth, It's Painful". The book brought him the passionate support of young people in their 20s and 30s, making him one of the most beloved mentors of youth.

Meanwhile, SNU has put a drastically expanded system of scholarship programs into effect since the second semester of 2011 in order to alleviate the burden of tuition fees on students. Due to this, SNU students in the lower 50th percentile regarding parents’ income level (households with a yearly income of less than 38,170,000 KRW, a monthly health insurance premium of less than 89,700 KRW, and net property tax of less than 2,000,000 KRW) are exempt from paying tuition fees this semester.

SNU estimated that a 1.6 billion KRW budget increase will be needed to maintain the new system of scholarship programs and is working avidly to raise funds for the 'Hope Scholarship Program'. SNU is also planning to use the raised funds of the 'Hope Scholarship Program' to support monthly living expenses (300,000 KRW a month) and expenses for studies abroad of students in the lower income group.

Written by YOON Byung Hun, SNU English Editor  ?
Proofread by Brett Johnson, SNU English Editor, morningcalm2@gmail.com