KS's Global Insights into Higher Education

In the sweltering summer of 2018, a disturbing incident unfolded during the monthly leadership meeting at Songdo International City's Incheon Global Campus, attended by representatives from four international universities. An African American employee present recounted a disheartening experience from that morning: as he left his on-campus apartment, he was subjected to a racial slur beginning with 'N' by a Korean student, who was apparently visiting from a nearby high school. This incident, which ignited anger in the employee, was formally addressed during the meeting. The question, "What should one learn in secondary education before advancing to higher education?" is inherently multifaceted. At the macro level, it involves a country's educational philosophy, ideology, and values, reflecting the ethos of a given era. At the meso level, it pertains to how regional education offices and individual schools administer and endorse their educational programs. At th

With an annual budget of approximately $1.5 billion in 2021-22, Michigan State University, established in East Lansing Michigan in 1855, is one of the largest research universities in the U.S. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 16:1, more than 200 departments and programs, and roughly 50,000 students, it is one of the 65 members of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a prestigious alliance renowned for its research-centric universities. Known as a 'Public Ivy', the university, which ranked 93rd in the 2022 THE World University Rankings, has a unique aspect in its ' MSU 2030 Strategic Plan ' released in 2020. This 36-page document is divided into six themes. The first is 'student success', which is listed first based on the priorities that Michigan State University considers important. Given the primary identity of the university as an educational institution, this is a natural outcome. However, unlike the terms 'cultivating' or 'producing