Educational Statistics

Results of the 2024 Survey on Private Education Expenditure

for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students

 

Author: Kim Taek-Hyung (Associate Research Fellow, KEDI)

 

■ 2024 Private Education Expenditure Statistics: “Money Does Not Lie”

 

 In March, Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Education jointly released the “Results of the 2024 Survey on Private Education Expenditure for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students.” As one traces the long series of figures and graphs, a familiar yet uncomfortable truth about private education emerges: ‘money does not lie.’ While students are the recipients of private education, it is parents who bear its financial cost. Accordingly, statistics on private education expenditure are not merely indicators of the education market; rather, they constitute a record of social choices, revealing how parents decide when, where, how, and for whom to allocate their limited financial resources. Beyond policy discourse and value judgments, private education expenditure statistics capture the concrete traces of parents’ actual spending decisions.

 

■ Rising Expenditure, Declining Student Number

 

 In 2024, total private education expenditure amounted to 29.2 trillion KRW, representing a 7.7% increase from the previous year. Notably, during the same period, the total number of students declined by 1.5%. In other words, despite a shrinking school-age population, per-student private education spending increased. This phenomenon goes beyond a numerical paradox and reflects a prevailing mindset in a low-fertility society: “At least for my one child, I will invest decisively.” as the number of children decreases, parents are concentrating more resources on fewer students.

 

 

■ Income Disparities, Educational Disparities

 Differences by household income are even more pronounced. Students from households with a monthly income of 8 million KRW or more spent an average of 676,000 KRW per month on private education, whereas those from households earning less than 3 million KRW per month spent 205,000 KRW – a gap of more than threefold. An interesting finding is that the year-on-year growth rate of private education expenditure among low-income households (12.3%) far exceeds that of high income households (0.8%). This trend is also reflected in participation rates. While the private education participation rate among high-income households declined slightly compared to the previous year (-0.3%p), participation among low-income households increased (0.9%p). This pattern suggests the hopes that low-income parents place on private education as a means of improving their children’s prospects. Nevertheless, despite this relative increase, the persistent absolute gap vividly illustrates enduring income-based disparities in access to private education.

 

 

■ Changing Purposes of Private Education, Yet an Unchanged Reality

 

 An examination of the purposes of private education shows that the largest share was devoted to supplementing school lessons (50.5%), followed by advance learning (23.1%) and preparation for advancement to higher levels of education (14.4%). Of particular note is the decline in the proportion of advance learning (-0.9%p) alongside an increase in spending aimed at supplementing school instruction (0.9%p). This suggests that the long-criticized ‘advance learning frenzy’ may have slightly subsided, while reliance on private education to keep up with school classes has increased. However, this trend cannot be viewed optimistically. The fact that the core function of public education – ensuring students can follow classroom instruction – is being outsourced to private education under the label of ‘supplementation’ indicates that confidence in public education has yet to be fully restored. Meanwhile, although private education aimed at college entrance at the high school level has declined slightly, it still accounts for a substantial share. At the same time, the increase in private education at the elementary level for preparation for middle school entry indirectly points to intensifying competition among elementary students seeking admission to selective middle schools, such as gifted or international middle schools.

 

 

■ Changing Purposes of Private Education , Yet an Unchanged Reality

 

 The results of the 2024 survey reveal that Korean parents’ spending behavior on private education follows a pattern akin to the “Matthew effect.” More specifically, higher-achieving students, students in more competitive regions, students closer to college entrance examinations, core academic subjects, and the passage of time are all associated with greater investment in private education. If the current college admissions system continues to reinforce correlations between private education expenditure, admission outcomes, and subsequent economic and social status, this spending pattern risks reproducing broader social inequalities through yet another manifestation of the Matthew effect. The box below illustrates various patterns in average monthly private education expenditure per participating students.

 

Higher Achievement: Among high school students, those in the top 10% spent an average of 665,000 KRW per month, compared to 370,000 KRW among students in the bottom 20%, indicating greater investment in higher-performing students. Greater Competition: Students in Seoul spent an average of 782,000 KRW per month, far exceeding the national average (592,000 KRW). While spending in township areas increased at a faster rate year-on-year (10.0% compared to 5.5% in Seoul), the absolute level (454,000 KRW) remained substantially lower. Closer to Entrance Examination: Average monthly expenditure increased with school level – 504,000 KRW in elementary school, 628,000 KRW in middle school, and 772,000 KRW in high school. In particular, first-year high school students recorded the highest expenditure at 799,000 KRW, suggesting that parents view the first year of high school as the most critical period for private education investment. Core Subjects: Spending was concentrated in subjects directly linked to entrance examinations, led by English (264,000 KRW), mathematics (249,000 KRW), and Korean language (164,000 KRW). Over Time: Average monthly private education expenditure per student increased by 9.3% for all students and 7.2% for participating students compared to the previous year.

 

■ What ‘Money’ Reveals about the Reality of Korean Education

 

 Ultimately, the 2024 private education expenditure survey lays bare the realities of Korean education. Parents open their wallets under the belief that academic performance and competitiveness in entrance examinations constitute a form of future security for their children. The consequences, however, return as increased household financial burdens, deepening educational inequalities, and weakened trust in public education. In this sense, private education expenditure statistics vividly reflect parents’ anxieties and aspirations, as well as the structural contradictions embedded in Korean society.

 

■ Concluding Remarks

 

 Successive administrations have pursued various education policies under the banner of “normalizing school education and reducing private education expenditure.” Nevertheless, over the past decade – excluding exceptional circumstances such as the COVID-19 period in 2020 – private education expenditure has continued to rise. Confronted with these statistics, which collectively reveal individual aspirations moving independently of government policy, the following questions remain: Should private education expenditure be regarded merely as the outcome of individual choice? Or should the inequalities and distrust exposed by this massive structure of private education investment serve as a catalyst for fundamental reform of public education?