Hagwon

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Hagwon
A building containing numerous hagwons in Dunsan-dong, Daejeon
Korean name
Hangul	학원
Hanja	學院
Revised Romanization	Hagwon
McCune–Reischauer	Hagwŏn

Hagwon (Korean: 학원; [ha.ɡwʌn]) is a Korean term for a for-profit private educational institution. They are commonly likened to cram schools. Some consider hagwons as private language centers or academies operated like businesses apart from the South Korean public school system.^[1] As of 2022^[update], 78.3% of grade school students in South Korea attend at least one and spend an average of 7.2 hours weekly in them.

Most children begin attending them by age five, with some even beginning by age two. The schools tend to focus on individual topics, including the English language, mathematics, and the college entrance exam, the College Scholastic Ability Test. Hagwons also exist for adults.

Hagwons have been a topic of controversy and criticism both internationally and in South Korea. They are seen as symptomatic of the significant competitiveness in South Korean society, and contribute to significant expense and stress for the majority of families who participate in them. Real estate prices are affected by proximity to elite hagwons, with homes located near these educational centers experiencing higher demand.