Dankook University received the top ‘S’ rating for the first time in the educational innovation category during the second annual evaluation of the University Innovation Support Project, hosted by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea. In attaining an ‘S’ rating, DKU will be eligible for additional incentives and be provided KRW 13.273 billion in grants, which is a 38% increase compared to the previous year.
The University Innovation Support Project helps universities strengthen their educational bases through self-innovation in order to provide quality higher education and foster future talent. A total of 117 universities nationwide, including 51 in the Seoul metropolitan area, are taking part in the project. Participating universities are evaluated and grouped into grades S, A, B, and C and receive tiered incentives depending on their respective grades.
Over the past five years, Dankook has invested around KRW 40 billion from the grants received through the project into educational innovations to nurture creative talent. Obtaining an ‘S’ rating acknowledges DKU’s achievements in delivering convergent education guided by the goal of ‘cultivating DKU future talent who can transcend borders and grow together.’
In this year’s evaluation, Dankook was highlighted for its efforts to expand choices for students when selecting majors. For the 2025 school year, 33.8% or 1,041 incoming students will be admitted with undeclared majors. Toegye (Jukjeon) and Yulgok (Cheonan) Innovation Colleges have been established to provide comprehensive education for freshmen enrolling in the open major program.
To support freshmen with selecting majors more effectively and planning their careers, dedicated professors (JA Faculty) are assigned and a roadmap called ‘D-DanCare’ is provided for students to adjust, grow, and design their career tracks. Assistance programs, such as Danjjak Mentoring (buddy-pairing between senior and junior students), Danpum Mentoring (one-on-one professor to student mentoring), and Danbi Mentoring (student and alumni mentorship groups), are also offered to help incoming students take more initiative in planning their college life. Meanwhile, a personalized growth management program called DanCare offers support to enrolled students in building skills in six core competency areas (communication, self-direction, problem-solving, professional knowledge, dedicated cooperation, and global citizenship).
DKU’s flexible academic system that offers multiple majors, supports department transfers, and allows credit exchanges was also recognized. The number of students that chose double majors, multidisciplinary majors, convergence majors, joint majors, and micro credentials jumped 15.1% from 1,171 in 2022 to 1,348 in 2023. A total of 728 courses are available for credit exchanges with 53,167 students completing such courses.
Dankook’s hyperconnected educational innovation platform was praised in the evaluation. Dankook implemented Dan.i (AI-based customized learning support), D-ESK (AI-based teaching support), and e-Campus (learning management system for no-boundary learning) to support customized teaching and learning. Moreover, DKU is advancing D-MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses), D-OER (Open Educational Resources), a metaverse campus (AI-driven tailored learning supports), and Young熊 Story+ (AI-based self-directed learning) to expand and converge hyperconnected learning experiences for students.
“Receiving an ‘S’ rating in the educational innovation category recognizes Dankook University’s performance in realizing strong convergent education,” said DKU President Soon-Cheol An, who added that “[we] will step up our efforts in building an educational infrastructure to nurture innovative and convergent talent fit for a new age of digital transformation.”