‘Korea’s Excellence in University Entrepreneurship’ is a competition hosted by Maeil Business Newspaper and the Korea Business Incubation Association (KOBIA) to recognize South Korean universities and colleges based on their entrepreneurial infrastructure, support, and performance, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) won the top prize in entrepreneurial infrastructure in the 2023 edition, while Hanyang University’s ERICA Campus was honored for entrepreneurial support and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) for entrepreneurial performance.

POSTECH won in the entrepreneurial infrastructure category that evaluates a university’s startup support organization, personnel, and systems. It operates TIPS Town, a space operated via a public-private partnership with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to foster promising startups in Seoul, Daejeon, and Pohang.

In the entrepreneurial support category, which assesses a university’s entrepreneurship courses, startup budgets, and startup support for the public, Sungkyunkwan University came out on top, but even as it placed first, runner up Hanyang University’s ERICA Campus was the overall winner. ERICA Campus has been running a bachelor’s program in entrepreneurship since 2014, and it offered 65 entrepreneurship courses at the end of 2022, and a total of 52 teams are active in its startup club.

The entrepreneurial performance category evaluates student and faculty entrepreneurship performance. GIST came out on top in this category, followed by Sungkyunkwan University and Mokpo University.

Among community colleges, Gangwon State University ranked first for entrepreneurial infrastructure, and topped the list for entrepreneurial support, but with its win in the infrastructure category, Baekseok Culture University was the overall winner. Baekseok Culture University operates an entrepreneurship education center that supports online courses on entrepreneurship as well as more than 80 types of manufacturing equipment related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a video content production room, and ten related programs.

In the category of entrepreneurial performance for community colleges, runner-up Korea National University of Agriculture and Fisheries placed second behind overall winner Osan University.

By Park Joon-hyung and Choi Jieun

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