Exploring Challenges and Improvement Strategies for General Graduate Schools in Korea

This study aims to analyze the key challenges faced by general graduate schools in Korea—particularly the decline in student enrollment and the absence of a systematic quality assurance framework—and to propose improvement strategies and a structured quality management system. Through literature review and analysis of statistical data, this study identified critical issues such as the ambiguity of institutional identity, low enrollment rates of new students, rising dropout rates, intensified competition in attracting international students, inadequate research environments, insufficient career development support, and the lack of a comprehensive quality management system. To address these challenges, the study suggests several strategic measures, including reestablishing the identity of general graduate schools, operating dedicated career support centers, and strengthening support systems for international students. Furthermore, it proposes concrete execution strategies to enhance quality assurance, such as standardizing academic and administrative guidelines, improving the management of higher education information disclosure, building an internal quality feedback system based on stakeholder participation, developing learning outcome-based evaluation indicators, and institutionalizing a national-level quality accreditation system.