With renowned universities opening up campuses in Songdo International City in Incheon, the city is seeking to make its global campus area the center of education in Northeast Asia.

The goal was clarified last Monday during the joint opening ceremonies of Ghent University and the University of Utah at Songdo Global University Campus. Government officials present at the event ― including Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok ― vowed to put their shoulder to the wheel in establishing the best infrastructure and overall learning environment for foreign-based universities.

The State University of New York, Korea, and George Mason University made Songdo their home in 2012 and March 2014, respectively.

Ghent University, the first European university to set foot in Songdo, was ranked 40th in the Times Top 50 Life Sciences Universities ranking for 2013-14. It will provide classes for around 900 local and foreign undergraduates.

The University of Utah, the flagship educational institute of the state of Utah, will offer psychology, journalism and social welfare classes to 225 undergraduates. It will also run public health programs for graduates.

“The opening of the universities has effectively established a foundation for Songdo to make the jump toward becoming the education hub of Northeast Asia,” said Kwon Pyong-oh, head of the trade and investment policy bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

“(The government) will provide support both in terms of financing and policy, so that outstanding foreign educational institutes can take root in Korea. We will also actively seek to host universities that are in the top 50 of global higher education rankings,” he added.

It is worth noting that the Education Ministry and the Trade Ministry announced a series of measures last month to lower the threshold for foreign and domestic investors to invest in foreign-based higher education institutes.

According to Education Ministry officials, the government will now allow local universities to invest in foreign universities building campuses in Korea. The ministry is also attempting to up the level of interaction between universities in Songdo, in part by allowing students to freely take classes and acquire credits at other universities.

Neither Ghent University nor the University of Utah will make a distinction between their main campus and Songdo campus, in terms of entrance criteria, curricula and degrees offered. This policy aims to allow students to benefit from international programs without having to leave the country.

“Students, when they leave, will leave with the exact same degree, exact same programs and exact same outcomes (as students at the U.S. campus). They will have lots of the same opportunities,” said Michael Hardman, chief global officer at the University of Utah.

He added that there will be interaction between the students at the University of Utah Asia Campus and the one in Salt Lake City, and that undergraduates at Songdo will have a chance to spend their first year at the main campus.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)