Colleges and students are being thrown into confusion following the education authority's order for schools to close their programs that offer one year study here and another three years at overseas schools.

Last Thursday, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology ordered universities operating the so-called “1+3 Overseas Study Programs” to shut them down and stop recruiting new students. The order was made after most of the colleges finished admiting new students.

Under the programs, students receive English and general education courses at the Korean schools for one year and continue their study at an overseas college from the next year as sophomores.

Those programs have been popular, as students can enter American schools without SAT scores and get the schools' degrees. They don't get the Korean schools' degrees, as they are not registered as their students but as members of the foreign schools.

About 20 schools across the nation have operated or are operating the programs, including Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), Chung-Ang, Sogang and Hanyang universities.

But the ministry recognised the programs illegal.

Reported by Korea Times