Kookmin University President Jeong Seung Ryul (pictured) received the Grand Prize in the CEO-Educational Innovation category at the “2026 Korea Management Awards.”

The starting point for educational innovation at Kookmin University is “entrepreneurship.” President Jeong has established entrepreneurship as a core value of university management and has continuously promoted educational innovation centered on challenge, creativity, practicality, and problem-solving. This approach is grounded in the philosophy of transforming the university into a hub for growth and challenge, where students can design their own futures and create new value rather than simply following a predetermined path amid a rapidly changing social and industrial environment.

This management philosophy is taking shape as a “borderless educational ecosystem” that breaks down barriers between disciplines, majors, and curricula. The university has flexibly restructured its educational system to allow students to freely explore and combine various fields, and it admits approximately 40% of its total freshman class through a “major-autonomous” track, where students are free to choose their majors. For current students, the university supports the proactive design of learning paths tailored to their interests and career goals through a flexible major-change system and initiatives such as “Omega School” and “Alpha Project.”

Kookmin University was the first university in Korea to announce a “Quantum Campus” and has established an education and research infrastructure that integrates quantum technology with fields such as information security, AI, next-generation communications, and future automobiles. The university is also pursuing a strategy to connect its strengths to future industries by focusing on eight specialized fields—design and content, mobility, quantum technology, AI+X, robotics, advanced materials and semiconductors, biotechnology, and water, energy, and the environment—and to create new competitive advantages through interdisciplinary convergence.

In addition, the university is strengthening field-oriented education that integrates real-world problems from industry and society into the curriculum. Through “G-PBL (Global Project-Based Learning),” students directly tackle real-world challenges to develop problem-solving skills. The university is also expanding its global industry-academia collaboration-based educational models, such as operating the “SEA:ME” program—a future automotive talent development initiative—in partnership with the Volkswagen Group’s Woori Foundation. Through these efforts, the university supports students in translating the knowledge and experience gained on campus into practical skills applicable in the real-world industrial setting.

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