| Soonchunhyang University | |
| Native Name: | 순천향 대학교 順天鄉大學校 |
| Motto: | Truth, Service, Performance" |
| Established: | 1978 |
| Type: | Private |
| President: | Kyoil Suh |
| City: | Sinchang-myeon, Asan |
| Country: | South Korea |
| Faculty: | 765 (Full-time) |
| Administrative Staff: | about 200 |
| Undergrad: | 15,675 (2010) |
| Postgrad: | 1,196 including doctoral (2010) |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Address: | 646 Eupnaeri, Sinchang-Myeon, Asan-Si, Chungnam-do, South Korea |
| Mascot: | phoenix |
Soonchunhyang University (SCH) is a private university in Asan, South Korea.
Soonchunhyang University has a strength in the field of medicine, based on a Soonchunhyang University Hospitals. It ranked 9th among universities in South Korea, in the category of Clinical, Pre-Clinical & Health by Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2023.[1]
The name ‘Soonchunhyang’ (순천향) means ‘the peaceful hometown complying with the will of heaven’. The university's founder, Dr. Succ-Jo Suh named the school to reflect his philosophy in medical practices that "heaven will cure diseases; doctors only help the curing process."
Soonchunhyang University was founded by Dr. Succ-Jo Suh in 1978, as a College of Medicine with 80 students. It emerged as a university based on Soonchunhyang Hospital, which was established in 1974. While initially established with the purpose of training medical professionals, the university gradually developed into a comprehensive university over time, offering both undergraduate and graduate programs.
SCH received the 'National Award for Educational Reform Excellence' from the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
In 2017, the University was under scrutiny for their ties to ex-president Park Geun-hye during the court proceedings during the Impeachment of Park Geun-hye. The University President, Gyo-il Seo, allegedly received bribes for development from the President's office and Department of Education while university doctors prescribed President Park with illegal sleep medicines. Soonchunhyang University’s support from the Ministry of Education increased from 7 billion won in 2012 and 4.5 billion won in 2013 to 8.1 billion won in 2014, 9.2 billion won in 2015, and 23.5 billion won in 2016 when the Park Geun-hye administration took office. This caused the University to lose public funding when Moon Jae-in was inaugurated, in turn causing the University to downscale and close its Department of Education.[2]
On 8 February 2024, the Government of the Republic of Korea gave Soonchunhyang University a 1 year ban on the recruitment of international students as a result of an investigation following the unlawful forced deportation of 21 Uzbek students from Hanshin University. The government sited irregularities in the visa process, illegal stay ratio of students, failure rate of international students in Korean language courses, illegal employment of foreign students, and other factors prompted the government to ban Soonchunhyang for one year starting in the fall 2024 semester. [3]
The School was established to educate students theoretical and application methods of scientific crime investigation. The graduate program focuses on the application of the physical, bio-medical, and social sciences to the analysis and evaluation of physical evidence, human testimony and criminal suspects. As of 2014 the Graduate School of Forensic Science established a Master's program in Digital Forensic Science.
SCH offered shuttle bus service from Seoul and various cities in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon. This was shut down after campus renovations and remodeling removed the campus bus station in early 2021.
SCH maintains a lending library for the local public within Sinchang-Soonchunhyang University Station. Books and periodicals range from academic texts to novels to general interest periodicals.
SCH undertook an educational initiative for its students commuting to campus by subway in Fall 2010, offering lectures in three university courses by SCH professors. The car of the train where the lectures are held is equipped with four LCD monitors, a beam projector, speakers, and a wireless microphone for the professors.
See main article: Soonchunhyang University Hospital. SCU owns and operates four teaching hospitals in South Korea. These are general hospitals offering services in several departments such as Pediatric Neurology, Psychology, and Cardiovascular Surgery
| Hospital Name | Date Opened | Number of Beds |
|---|---|---|
| Soonchunhyang University Hospital Seoul | 1974 | 788 |
| Soonchunhyang University Hospital Gumi | 1979 | 369 |
| Soonchunhyang University Hospital Cheonan | 1982 | 963 |
| Soonchunhyang University Hospital Bucheon | 2001 | 957 |
Soonchunhyang University maintains formal educational partnerships with 88 post-secondary institutions worldwide. These partner institutions are found in the US, China, Finland, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Cambodia, Thailand and several other countries.
The SCH Global Village on Soonchunhyang's is a living facility for Korean and international students . As a concept, the Global Village is intended to bridge the formal educational and social needs of students participating in the Asian Studies, English Village, Chinese Village, and Japanese Village programs.
The School for Global Education and Exchange also maintains a separate student lounge where students may keep up on global events through Korean and English cable television, English- and Korean-language print news media, and PC terminals equipped with high-speed internet access.
The Confucius Institute at SCU was established on September 28, 2007 in affiliation with the Tianjin Foreign Studies University in China, with a mandate to promote Chinese language education and cultural learning . Programs include Chinese language education classes, Chinese youth camp, and cultural field trips to China.
As of June 15, 2010, the Confucius Institute at SCH and the local government of Asan City began to offer programs for Asan's youth through the Asan City Youth Education and Culture Center (link to reference).
In 2008 and 2009, The Confucius Institute was rated first in Korea and third in the world for overall achievement by Confucius Institute headquarters.[7] [8]
The Asian Studies Program is a special university program that brings students from several countries to SCH for one-three semesters. The program includes approximately 50 courses conducted in English, such as Korean Studies, Asian culture classes, history, politics, economics, and Korean Language.