Graduate Admissions

Applications for graduate admissions are processed by the Graduate School of Keimyung University. Your applications must be sent to the Graduate School first. Please read through the following requirements listed in the Graduate Admissions Guide carefully.

The admission process for the spring semester will start in November of the prior year. For the spring semester, referred to as the 1st semester, the class sessions start on March 1st. On the other hand, the admission process for the fall semester will start in May. For the fall semester, referred to as the 2nd semester, the class sessions start on September 1. The admission schedule will be posted in the Admissions Guidelines and application forms that are available on the following link: Admissions Guidelines and application forms

Yes, we offer an English-track program. Thus, various English-lectured courses are offered in both undergraduate and graduate programs. International students take LIS courses with Korean students as well as other international students. In general, in each semester, all full-time faculty members are involved in teaching graduate-level classes. Because the average class size is small, the language proficiency of all graduate students is taken into consideration before the time of course registration to determine the appropriate language for classroom instruction.

No. Students are required to select a Ph.D. advisor at the beginning of the second semester, after the successful completion of the first semester.

Typically, the LIS Master's program will take 1 and 1/2 years for the coursework. Also, students are required to either write a master's thesis or take additional courses instead of writing the thesis. The Ph.D. degree, on the other hand, will typically take two years for the coursework. Additionally, students are required to write a Ph.D. dissertation. Like in most universities, students take varying times to complete their required thesis or dissertation. Even after the completion of coursework, students are encouraged to be actively engaged with their advisor in order to properly complete their thesis or dissertation.

You can apply for exemption from the Korean language proficiency requirement. Please check with the Graduate Admission Office. However, international students must obtain TOPIK or English language proficiency to meet the graduation requirement. For students who plan to write a thesis or dissertation in English, English language proficiency may be considered more important than Korean language skill. Also, another consideration that needs to be taken into account is the fact that students who obtain a high score on the TOPIK exam are eligible for a university scholarship. Since students do have time to naturally improve Korean by living in Korea, lacking Korean language skills shouldn't be the greatest concern for international students who want to pursue a graduate degree in LIS here at Keimyung University.

Applications for scholarships can be submitted directly while applying for admission through the Graduate School. Scholarships are mostly based on language proficiency. The GKS scholarship is offered by the Korean government. However, note that this scholarship is highly competitive. Please contact the Graduate School for more information on the Keimyung University scholarship requirements: Keimyung University scholarship requirements.

LIS faculty members and graduate students are actively engaged in various types of research projects and have varying research interests in LIS subject areas. Among these are library management and systems, librarianship, information technology, classification, informetrics, scholarly communication, LIS education, school library, etc. There are several professional LIS organizations and journals that our faculty members are actively involved in. Although it is not a prerequisite for writing a thesis or dissertation, graduate students are encouraged to collaborate with faculty members and publish research works while pursuing a degree in LIS.