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50,000 Students Delay Graduation in Tough Job Market

More than 50,000 university students have apparently postponed graduation plans amid a tough job market.

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An Min-suk, a lawmaker with the Minjoo Party, obtained data from the Education Ministry that show 17,744 seniors officially postponing graduation in the first semester this year.

But the number rises to 50,858 counting students who deliberately missed the required number of credits to graduate or started on a second major.

Among 107 universities that allow students to postpone graduation, 70 let them take the minimum number of classes and pay only a fraction of the full tuition. They earned W3.5 billion in tuition from students who opted to postpone graduation (US$1=W1,102).

The main reason is a spreading belief that big businesses shun jobseekers who have already graduated and prefer to fish among undergraduates. Others want to keep their student status while they brush up on their English skills, volunteer, or take up internships to build up their resumes.

Job portal Saramin surveyed 251 human resources staffers last year, and 58.6 percent said they do not care whether applicants have already graduated, and 30.7 percent said they actually prefer graduates.

Only 10.7 percent said they prefer to hire students before they graduate.

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