sustainability Article A News Big Data Analysis of Issues in Higher Education in Korea amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Jangwan Ko 1, Seungsu Paek 2,*, Seoyoon Park 1 and Jiwoo Park 1 1 College of Education, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 04063, Korea;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +82-31-750-8625 Abstract: This paper examines the main issues regarding higher education in Korea—where college education experienced minimal interruptions—during the COVID-19 pandemic through a big data analysis of news articles. By analyzing policy responses from the government and colleges and examining prominent discourses on higher education, it provides a context for discussing the implications of COVID-19 on education policy and what the post-pandemic era would bring. To this end, we utilized BIgKinds, a big data research solution for news articles offered by the Korea Press Foundation, to select a total of 2636 media reports and conducted Topic Modelling based on LDA algorithms using NetMiner. The analyses are split into three distinct periods of COVID-19 spread in the country. Some notable topics from the first phase are remote class, tuition refund, returning Chinese international students, and normalization of college education. Preparations for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), contact and contactless classes, preparations for early admissions, and supporting job market candidates are extracted for the second phase. For the third phase, the extracted topics include CSAT and college-specific exams, quarantine on campus, social Citation: Ko, J.; Paek, S.; Park, S.; relations on campus, and support for job market candidates.