Studying in Korea without TOPIK: how Sejong and Yonsei Mirae answer it differently

Almost every student asks the same thing first about studying in Korea: "What can I do if I have no TOPIK?"

The two universities in this article answer that question in very different ways — which is why putting them side by side is more useful than describing either alone.

Sejong University: fifteen programmes taught in English

Sejong is a private university in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, with a dedicated One Stop Service Center handling international applications.

The point that matters most to Vietnamese students: the university teaches in English across fifteen undergraduate programmes — Public Administration, Media and Communication, Business Administration, Economics, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Computer Science and Engineering, Comics & Animation Technology, the School of Global Liberal Studies, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, AI and Software, Smart Mobility, K-Pop Entertainment, Visual and Performing Content, and Contemporary Music.

The language requirement for that track is IELTS 5.5, TOEFL iBT 3.5 (59 on the old scale), or New TEPS 202. A student with IELTS 5.5 can enter a degree in Seoul without a word of TOPIK.

Tuition — read the unit carefully, this is where people go wrong

Sejong's 2026 tuition, PER SEMESTER, in KRW:

• 4,669,000 — humanities, social sciences, business, economics, hospitality and tourism
• 5,521,000 — natural sciences, physical education
• 6,340,000 — IT, advanced convergence, engineering, life sciences
• 6,392,000 — arts

Korean universities quote tuition by semester, not by year. Many families see 4.7 million KRW and take it for an annual figure — it needs doubling, to roughly 9.3 to 12.8 million KRW a year depending on faculty. The application fee is 150,000 KRW.

The university's guide also warns that tuition may rise for the 2027 academic year, in which case a preliminary deposit is charged to cover the difference — so do not fix a budget on the 2026 numbers alone.

Scholarships you can calculate before you apply

This is Sejong's real strength, and it differs from the usual "apply and wait for a committee". Its entrance scholarships follow a published score table, applied to first-semester tuition:

• English track — 80% at IELTS 8.0 · 50% at IELTS 6.5 · 30% at IELTS 5.5
• Korean track — 100% at TOPIK Level 6 · 70% at Level 5 · 50% at Level 4 · 30% at Level 3

Because it is a table, the arithmetic is immediate: taking IELTS from 5.5 to 6.5 is worth another 20% of first-semester tuition. That is a decision with a number attached, not a gamble.

Students who come up through the Sejong Language Center receive a further 500,000 to 1,000,000 KRW depending on semesters completed. The two may be combined, up to the value of tuition.

If you take the Korean track

The TOPIK threshold varies by department: Level 4 for most, Level 3 for Media and Communication and Business Administration, and Level 2 for the School of Creative Studies, Global Liberal Studies, Entertainment and Content, arts and physical education majors, and Korean language and literature.

Entering at Level 2 carries a condition: within one year you must complete either 300 hours of Korean instruction, the Korea Immigration and Integration Program, or a King Sejong Institute course. And you must reach Level 4 (or 3, by department) before graduating. This is not a formality — build it into the study plan from the start.

Spring 2027 application dates

Two rounds: 7-21 September 2026 for the first, 22 October to 13 November 2026 for the second. Everything is submitted online within the window; original documents are posted only after admission, during the tuition-payment period — and failing to send them in time cancels the admission.

One sign the university is used to Vietnamese applications: the admissions office publishes document guidelines specific to Vietnam, alongside China, Uzbekistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Note that documents must be apostilled or consularly authenticated and notarised before upload.

Yonsei University Mirae Campus: know which campus you are applying to

Before the programmes, one thing has to be said first, because it shapes both expectations and the decision.

This is the Wonju campus, not the Sinchon campus in Seoul. The address is 1 Yonseidae-gil, Wonju, Gangwon-do — about an hour and a half from Seoul. The campus was established in 1978 and runs its own admissions office. The university's own page describes the Wonju campus as having "its roots in Yonsei University".

If the Yonsei name is part of why you want to apply, know this before applying rather than after. VNIS says it because it is exactly the kind of detail that goes missing from briefings.

The English track here is narrower — but it is two majors, not one

The Division of East Asian Studies — formerly the EastAsia International College — teaches entirely in English, across two majors:

• East Asian Economy and Business
• East Asian Politics and Culture

The briefing we received mentioned only the economics programme. Checked against the university's own pages, the whole division teaches in English and offers two majors — and leaving one out removes an option from the reader.

The programme runs in two stages: humanities and social science foundations in the first two years, then concentration on the major in years three and four. Students also study an East Asian language — Chinese, Japanese or Korean — and can join Yonsei's exchange programmes, which run across the wider Yonsei network rather than the Wonju campus alone.

Every other undergraduate major at Mirae is taught in Korean. Outside the Division of East Asian Studies, TOPIK decides the matter. Ask the admissions office for the level currently required by the specific department you want.

What VNIS could not verify here

Stated plainly, three things could not be checked, so no figures are given for them:

• Current tuition for the Mirae campus — the campus tuition page carries only an archived notice from 2018.
• The English entry requirement for the Division of East Asian Studies.
• The TOPIK level by department for the Korean-taught majors.

You can ask directly at ysmirae@yonsei.ac.kr or +82-33-760-2828, and you should, before deciding.

Where VNIS stands

So you can weigh this article properly:

• For Sejong University, VNIS takes applications through an agreed channel with the university.
• For Yonsei University Mirae Campus, no agreement has been signed as of 16 September 2026 — it is under negotiation. We cover the campus because the verified information is useful to anyone researching Korea, not because VNIS represents it.

Every figure above was read directly from Sejong's own admission guide and from Yonsei Mirae's official pages on 16 September 2026. Where something could not be verified, we say so rather than filling the gap with a plausible number.

If you want to know which scholarship band your transcript and current language score put you in, leave your details — for Sejong the answer is immediate, because the table is published.