Nader Ahmed Rimon had a dream of pursuing higher education in South Korea. He had also received an offer letter from the university. Within the stipulated time, he paid about BDT 600,000 for tuition fees, admission fees and dormitory charges. After that, he was just waiting for the visa. But that wait has today turned into uncertainty, the burden of debt and frustration. The university authorities did not even submit the necessary documents for the visa. Conversely, even after five months, the money deposited has not been refunded.
Nearly 300 Bangladeshi students have fallen into the same situation as Rimon. They have around BDT 180 million stuck, losing the opportunity for higher education at the same time.
Despite taking tuition fees, the university did not even initiate the visa process for most of the students, according to the aggrieved students. Yet, there is an obligation to refund the money within a specified time if a visa is not granted or admission is not completed, according to the university’s own refund policy. In reality, that policy has had no application. Rather, the university authorities have been avoiding the victims for a long time.
The students claim that according to the rules of the admission process in South Korea, the university first receives money from the students and then submits the necessary documents for a visa to the immigration authorities. But despite SinGyeongju University taking millions of taka from Bangladeshi students, in most cases it did not submit documents to immigration. Consequently, they could not even apply for a visa.
After the situation became complicated, local representatives and students repeatedly tried to contact the university. Despite communicating multiple times with the university administration and appointed agents, no effective response was found. Even after sending a legal notice, no reply was received.
Additional alarming information has now emerged. On July 16, the university’s Office of Global Affairs issued a notice stating that a South Korean court declared the “Wonseok Educational Foundation,” which operates SinGyeongju University, bankrupt on July 3. In an official message, University President Dr Joon Soo Kim confirmed that the institution is currently attempting legal rehabilitation under the supervision of a court-appointed trustee. But while claiming the institution is not shutting down, the notice provided no instructions on how the students’ trapped funds will be refunded.
A list obtained by Bonik Barta reveals that nearly 300 Bangladeshi students deposited fees for admission to South Korea’s SinGyeongju University. Each student had to pay 7.13 million Korean Won — equivalent to roughly BDT 600,000 — covering tuition, admission fees and accommodation costs. In total, approximately BDT 180 million has accumulated in the university’s accounts. A large portion of this money came from the savings of middle-class and lower-middle-class families. Some sold land, others took bank loans, and many borrowed from relatives in an attempt to fulfil their children’s dreams of studying abroad. That very dream has now turned into a nightmare for them.
A review of documents belonging to Nader Ahmed Rimon, an applicant for the university’s Global Business Management graduate course, shows that he received an offer letter on January 7 for the 2026 spring session. The deadline to pay all fees and charges was set for January 14. Accordingly, Rimon transferred the required funds to the university’s account on January 13 through Mutual Trust Bank. But because the university authorities failed to submit his paperwork, he did not get a visa.
Regarding this matter, Nader Ahmed Rimon told Bonik Barta, “We’ve been trying to contact the university for a long time. But they’re not giving any answers. No immigration application was even submitted for any of us, which is why none of us got a visa. For the past five months, they’ve only been saying that the money will be refunded next week. Now that the university’s trustee board has gone bankrupt, whether we’ll get our money back at all has become the biggest question.”
Sharing a similar experience, another student, Faisal Patwary, who enrolled last March, stated that the university never submitted any paperwork to immigration, resulting in a denied visa process. Regarding this, Faisal Patwary said, “According to the return policy, the money was supposed to be refunded within a month, but even after five months, I’m not getting the money back. They’re not replying to any emails either. We sent a Korean younger brother to the university. The authorities told him to talk to the university’s representatives in Bangladesh."
According to the students’ allegations, many families are now overwhelmed by the burden of debt due to not getting their money back. Many have also lost the ability to apply to another university anew. To overcome this situation, the victims have demanded diplomatic intervention. They are preparing to submit memoranda to the Ambassador of South Korea in Dhaka and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.
Another victim student, Sajjad Hossain, said, “We sent money to the university’s account following all proper rules. But due to the university’s negligence, millions of taka have become stuck. We demand a swift arrangement for the refund of our money through diplomatic intervention by the South Korean government.”
South Korea’s popularity among Bangladeshi students seeking higher education abroad has grown significantly over the past few years. Every year, hundreds of students head to the country due to relatively lower costs, scholarship opportunities and an international-standard education system. But this incident involving SinGyeongju University has once again brought to the forefront issues regarding the financial capacity and administrative transparency of universities in the admission process abroad, as well as the protection of students’ funds.
“We Care Education,” which identifies itself as the official Bangladeshi representative of SinGyeongju University, stated that they processed admission applications for approximately 120 students to this university. Asanur Rahman, a student counsellor at the organisation, told Bonik Barta, “We work directly with about 22 universities in Korea. We submitted over a hundred files to this university and received offer letters. They granted visas to a small number of students, but the university authorities failed to submit the files for visas for the majority.”
Regarding the refund of money, he said, “Normally, if a visa isn’t granted, the rule is to refund the money within 90 days to the exact account from which it was sent. But for a month now, even our Korean representatives haven’t received any cooperation from the university. Later, we learned that the court has declared the foundation operating the university bankrupt.”