Labor ministry backs new four-year degree track for apprentices

South Korea's labor ministry said Monday that the Human Resources Development Service of Korea has selected four universities to run a revised work-study program from 2027 that lets graduates of vocational high schools earn four-year degrees while staying employed.

The service, chaired by Lee Byung-hoon, chose Inje University in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, and Korea University of Engineering in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, to operate a newly created integrated track, with Incheon National University named for an advanced career development transfer course and Suwon University for a master's program in semiconductor talent management.

The integrated track is the program's biggest change. Rather than completing a two-year junior college course and then transferring into a four-year university, students will begin at a four-year institution and receive both stages of training there. The service plans to focus expansion on universities outside the capital region.

The work-study system, known as the apprenticeship program, has operated since 2013 and provides more than six months of combined classroom and workplace training each year to about 30,000 vocational high school students, university students and new employees. Workers who complete the vocational high school track can continue to a master's course, which was established in September 2026.

Under the broader overhaul the service is pursuing with the labor ministry, regional growth-engine industries will be allowed to design fully autonomous training courses without the obligatory national competency standards, and training subsidies will be raised. The service is also recruiting more training institutions centered on four-year universities outside the capital region and introducing a regional settlement grant to encourage young people to remain in those areas.

"The post-learning model for the work-study system is a growth ladder that helps learning begun at an apprenticeship school continue through a bachelor's and master's degree after employment," Lee said. "We will continue to expand the foundation so that young people can grow into core talent at regional companies and businesses can stably secure the skilled workers they need."

The four selected institutions are tied to specific training fields: Inje University to mechanical control design and automatic control device design, Korea University of Engineering to software development, electronic device hardware development and semiconductor equipment assembly, Incheon National University to electronic device hardware development and mechanical control design, and Suwon University to its semiconductor management master's course.

The government has linked the changes to its plan to foster regional growth engines across five regional blocs and three special zones, aiming to train workers for strategic local industries such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors while easing the concentration of young people in the capital region.