Guide
What a Semester in Korea Actually Costs as an Exchange Student
Tuition swap means you keep paying your home university and pay the Korean host nothing. Every other cost of the semester is yours, in won. Here is the honest line-by-line, with the figures that are actually published.
- Exchange students pay zero Korean tuition under the swap; visiting students pay real tuition (5,500,000 KRW per semester at Korea University).
- Housing is the big line. SNU's on-campus rate for undergraduates runs roughly 279,600 to 482,000 KRW per month; visiting students at SNU must budget for off-campus housing.
- Health insurance is mandatory, not optional: D-2 students are enrolled in NHIS from their registration date at roughly 40,000 KRW per month, plus private travel cover for the arrival gap.
- Do not budget on work income. Part-time permission has conditions on D-2, and consulate guidance says visiting students on D-2-8 may not be permitted to work at all.
- Two grants can offset real money: the GKS exchange grant (630,000 KRW per month plus airfare, via your host university) and DUO-Korea (4,000 EUR for Korea-Europe pairs).
The budget lines
| Line | Exchange student | Visiting student |
|---|---|---|
| Korean tuition | 0 KRW (paid at home instead) | Full host tuition (KU: 5,500,000 KRW per semester) |
| Application fee | Usually none stated | SNU: 82,000 KRW, non-refundable |
| Housing (on-campus, where eligible) | SNU UG rate: 279,600 - 482,000 KRW/month | SNU: not eligible; budget off-campus |
| NHIS health insurance | About 40,000 KRW/month from registration | Same, once registered |
| Private insurance for the arrival gap | Required or strongly advised by hosts | Same |
| Food, transport, phone, daily life | See the monthly budget guide | Same |
| Flights and one-off arrival costs | Yours in both cases | Same |
The living-cost lines (food, transport, phone, and the rest of daily life) are the same for exchange students as for any international student, and this site maintains dedicated, regularly reviewed figures for them: see the monthly student budget and cost of living by city. Seoul is the ceiling; the same semester in a regional city costs noticeably less.
The insurance line, explained properly
This one surprises people, so it deserves its own section. Since March 1, 2021, international students on D-2 visas are mandatorily enrolled in Korea's National Health Insurance, starting from their residence registration date. SNU's exchange factsheet puts the monthly premium at about 40,000 KRW at the student rate. This is not optional, and unpaid NHIS contributions can block visa extensions.
Two practical consequences:
- Budget NHIS for every month after registration. For a four-month semester, that is a real line of roughly 160,000 KRW at the SNU-quoted rate.
- Cover the gap. NHIS starts at registration, not at landing. Hosts advise arriving with private travel or study-abroad medical insurance covering the first weeks; some, like Ewha, offer a collective plan or accept proof of equivalent coverage.
The full system, including what NHIS actually covers, is in the health insurance guide.
Housing, the decisive line
Whether you get campus housing can swing the budget more than any other choice. Exchange students are generally eligible for host dormitories (SNU: 279,600 to 482,000 KRW per month for undergraduates), while SNU's visiting students are explicitly not, and must rent off campus, where a deposit system and higher monthly costs apply. If you end up off campus, read student housing in Korea before committing to anything from abroad.
The money that can come back: grants
Two government-linked programs pay real money to exchange students, both applied for through universities rather than by you directly:
- GKS exchange grant (NIIED): 630,000 KRW per month for one semester plus round-trip airfare at cost, for selected incoming exchange students with grades of 80% or above at home. Your Korean host university must be an operator and must recommend you; ask its international office whether it participates in the "GKS Non-degree Program for Foreign Exchange Students" the moment you are nominated.
- DUO-Korea (ASEM-DUO): 4,000 EUR per person for up to one semester, for paired exchanges between Korean and European partner universities, applied for by the Korean university.
Add your home university's own study-abroad grants and any national mobility funding your country runs. None of these are guaranteed, which is exactly why the budget above should work without them.