IEQAS: how to check a Korean university before you apply and keep your visa

When you choose a Korean university, it is tempting to start with rankings, campus photos and student vlogs. For an international student, the first filter is more practical: the university's status in IEQAS.

IEQAS does not rate how good a university is. It measures how well a university handles international students: admission, support, visa matters, outcomes. And it decides how easily you get a student visa. At some universities, right now, you cannot get one at all.

What IEQAS is

IEQAS stands for the International Education Quality Assurance System. Korea's Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Education assess universities together and publish the list of accredited ones on Study in Korea.

One detail changed recently, and it matters. Accreditation is now granted for four years, from March 2026 to February 2030. Until now the list was effectively rewritten every year. From now on universities are only monitored each year, and a university that stops meeting the criteria loses its accreditation. So no new list will come out in 2027, but a university can still lose its status halfway through your studies.

Four categories, not two

"Accredited or not" is no longer the whole picture. There are four categories, and the difference between them is the difference between a routine visa and a refusal.

• Accredited university (인증대학). The visa is reviewed on the Standard Admission Letter alone, with one exception: applicants from the countries on two Ministry of Justice lists, named below, must still submit financial documents.
• Regular non-accredited university (일반대학). Standard screening: the university's capacity to manage international students, your education and your finances. Nothing alarming, just slower and with more documents.
• University under intensified visa screening (컨설팅대학). In-depth review, up to an interview and a check of how likely the applicant is to work illegally.
• Visa-restricted university (비자정밀 심사대학). In the words of the announcement, visa issuance is restricted in principle.

The last category is already in force. After the 2025 review it covers 16 degree-granting universities and 4 language centers, for one year starting from the second semester of 2026, which is exactly the intake many applicants are preparing for now.

You can still be admitted to such a university on paper. You cannot study there: you will not get the student visa, however strong your own documents are.

Penalties have also become harsher. A university that breaks the rules on recruiting or supporting international students can now have its visas restricted for up to three years, instead of one.

Which countries need financial documents even for an accredited university

The exception in the first category covers two lists set by Korea's Minister of Justice. Applicants from these countries submit proof of funds even when the university is accredited:

• 21 designated countries: Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
• 5 countries under intensive management for students: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali and Uganda.

The lists change from time to time, and embassies can ask for extra documents on top. Check with the Korean embassy that will issue your visa before you collect them.

Not accredited is not the same as restricted

A regular non-accredited university is not a reason to cross it off your list. There are 134 of them, and applying to one remains a workable option: the checks are just stricter. Their names are not published, and neither are those of the universities under intensified screening.

That logic does not apply to restricted universities at all. And here is the trap: the list of accredited universities cannot tell the two cases apart. A university missing from it looks the same whether it is a safe choice or a dead end.

The restricted universities are named in a separate list, attached to the joint press release of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education, not on the accredited-universities page. You need to check both.

Where you cannot get a visa now

After the 2025 review, students of these institutions are not issued visas for one year from the second semester of 2026. We give the names in Korean, as the press release does: that is the easiest way to match them against your university.

• Universities: 금강대학교 (Geumgang), 수원가톨릭대학교 (Suwon Catholic), 중앙승가대학교 (Joong-Ang Sangha), 협성대학교 (Hyupsung).
• Junior colleges (전문대학): 부산경상대학교, 부산예술대학교, 한영대학교.
• Graduate schools (대학원대학교): 구세군사관대학원대학교, 국제법률경영대학원대학교, 능인대학원대학교, 성서침례대학원대학교, 순복음대학원대학교, 에스라성경대학원대학교, 치유상담대학원대학교, 한국상담대학원대학교, 합동신학대학원대학교.
• Korean language programs: 대구한의대학교 (Daegu Haany), 상지대학교 (Sangji), 호원대학교 (Howon), 목포과학대학교 (Mokpo Science).

More than half of the 16 degree-granting institutions are religious schools and seminaries; no well-known university is on the list. It matters more for language courses: the ban hits the language centers of ordinary regional universities, while the degree programs of the same universities are not restricted. Check the line that matches the program you are going for. How to choose a language center and what a term costs: Korean language programs at universities.

What accreditation gives you

At an accredited university the visa procedure is simpler and the document pack smaller. 181 universities are accredited for degree programs and 123 for Korean language programs. Of them, 39 form a smaller group of Excellent Accredited Universities, with particularly strong results in internationalization.

If you are applying for GKS, the status matters too: according to the press release, accredited universities are preferred when GKS host universities are chosen.

How to use IEQAS when you choose

• Open the official list of accredited universities on Study in Korea.
• Check separately whether the university is on the restricted list (비자정밀 심사대학). The current list is above; a new one comes out each February, attached to the press release of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education. A university's absence from the accredited list tells you nothing on its own.
• Pick the right category: degree programs or Korean language programs are listed separately.
• If you are applying for GKS, compare the status with the university list in this cycle's GKS notice.
• Only then look at the program, the city, the cost of living, dormitories and career prospects.
• For a D-2 or D-4 visa, check the requirements of your embassy or consulate as well.

A simple strategy

Start with a long list of universities that fit your program. Then check their status, the restricted list first and accreditation second, and drop the options where the risk is not worth it. Choose your final three to five from what is left, by field, city, budget and your chances of admission. Deadlines and requirements of individual universities are in Bachelor's in Korea without GKS.

It is less romantic than choosing by the prettiest campus, and far more practical. Checking two lists takes ten minutes and costs much less than a lost year.