The Higher Education Review

Founded in 2002, by Chong-Yang Kim, then the president of Hanyang University (currently the Chairman of Hanyang Foundation), Hanyang Cyber University (HYCU) was established to `provide open learning opportunities for everyone'. With the emergence of the concept of `online learning' and the education trend shift to online learning from the traditional face-to-face method, HYCU pioneered a new education landscape with an education platform called `Connecting Internet to Education'.

It opened the door for potential students who did not have an opportunity for higher education before. What started with 950 students from five departments, HYCU has today become the largest cyber university in Korea with the enrollment of 19,441 students (18,279 undergraduate students and 1,162 graduate students).

HYCU is the university of `everywhere' which means students can take online classes from anywhere and at any time. Students at HYCU can take Korean classes regardless of where they are which is the biggest strength of online learning. This allows students from all over the world to take courses at HYCU. To complement online learning, HYCU offers club activities, offline seminars, festivals and other offline activities in the campus.

Teachers as Strongest Pillars
The main educational innovation of online learning is that it transcends the time and space restriction of the traditional education. It allows to implement various teaching methods such as interaction that is both vertical (between teacher-student) and horizontal

(between peer students). With smartphones and mobile devices, online learning now has become truly `mobile' which means students possess classrooms on their palms.

After the pandemic, the online education has taken the centre stage of higher education and transformed the face of higher education. "At HYCU, students can take classes online at any time, interact with the professors, staff, tutors and other students freely online and offline. HYCU regularly holds events that students can participate in, such as festivals, orientations, workshops, team building activities, and etc. HYCU students have access to engineering laboratories in Hanyang University and other facilities such as Hanyang University Library and Hanyang University Hospital.

Hanyang Cyber University currently has the largest number of full-time professors among cyber universities in Korea. HYCU is dedicated to provide top-quality contents to their students. At HYCU, all the contents are designed meticulously and take numerous procedures for quality assurance. HYCU offers various workshops and seminars for its professors to stay up to date of online learning trends and teaching methodology.
HYCU envisions to foster creativity and professional skills for future global leaders. HYCU aims to provide practical curriculum and wisdom for the future. In other words, it is HYCU's ultimate goal to offer education that is future ready.

"Hanyang Cyber University has established and operated `Industry-Academic Cooperation Group' in the school to establish a research culture for professors. This is an organization that helps professors conduct research on and off campus. Currently, HYCU has completed five projects organized by the Korea Educational Research Information Service (KERIS) which is the largest number among cyber universities in Korea", adds the personnel from HYCU.

Towards the Future
Today, more and more students are knocking on the door of cyber universities for lower tuition compared to the tradi-tional universities. In addition, HYCU grants the scholarship (30 percent tuition reduction for up to 1 year) for interna-tional students who apply the international student admis-sion process. Any prospect international students who have TOPIK level 2 or higher are given a 40 percent reduction for up to a year.

If you are an international student who is fluent in Korean can apply for the Korean Language Scholar-ship. HYCU plans to open a Korean language education and cultural contents program for international students and in the first semester of 2023. "With K-Culture in the spotlight around the world recently, we are preparing a curriculum that can help locals who want to learn Korean more professionally and obtain a Korean teacher's license", adds the personnel from HYCU.

"Hanyang Cyber University's vision of fostering creative professionals who lead society means that the wisdom of coexistence should be extended to prepare for the future and live together through practical knowledge"

The core value of HYCU is based on the `love in deed' which is the founding philosophy of Hanyang Foundation. HYCU also aims to foster creative professionals who can integrate practical knowledge and the wisdom through cyber higher education. HYCU's vision of fostering creative global leaders means that the wisdom of coexistence should be extended to prepare for the future and practical knowledge.

Therefore, HYCU cultivates global leaders who actively adapt to the changes under the vision of `becoming the university that builds the future together'. To this end, HYCU strives to be the cyber university that offers best education, research, management and student service.