Korea National Open University

Korea National Open University (KNOU, 한국방송통신대학교) is a national university of South Korea. The school provides higher education including undergraduate, graduate and non-degree programs as well as distance-learning courses in Korean for more than 180,000 students. It was established in 1972 as a branch faculty of Seoul National University, with 2-year junior college courses. In 1982, KNOU was separated from SNU and established as a national university, launching programs for 4-year undergraduate degrees. As of 2009, the university has 46 offices and regional learning centres nationwide, and domestic cable television channel (OUN) for broadcasting lectures. It provides accredited bachelor's and master's degree for various fields, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates, or life-long learning units. The school's main campus is located in Daehak-ro, Jongro-gu, Seoul.

With more than 180,000 students enrolled, including 700 postgraduate students, KNOU is the first distance and lifelong educational institution of South Korea, and the largest educational institution in the country by enrollment. Since its foundation, more than 500,000 students have been enrolled, and 350,000 students graduated from the university.

History
KNOU was founded in 1972 as a branch of Seoul National University. It began by offering a two-year junior college program to 12,000 students and now has over 200,000 full-time, degree-seeking students for four-year university programs and some part-time students for non-degree, lifelong education programs. It also offers online graduate programs for several major areas.

Education
The university includes four colleges:
 * College of Liberal Arts
 * College of Social Science
 * College of Natural Science
 * College of Education

It also includes seventeen graduate schools:
 * Department of Practical English
 * Department of Practical Chinese
 * Department of Japanese Language & Culture
 * Department of French Language & Culture
 * Department of Law
 * Department of Public Administration
 * Department of Management
 * Department of Media Arts & Culture Contents
 * Department of Agriculture and Life Science
 * Department of Economics
 * Department of Computer Science
 * Department of e-Learning
 * Department of Bioinformatics
 * Department of Envitonmental Health Systems
 * Department of Nursing
 * Department of Lifelong Education
 * Department of Youth Education
 * Department of Early Childhood Education

Campus
The university has campuses in every major city of South Korea. Cities which have KNOU campuses include: Seoul, Daejeon-Chungnam, Busan, Daegu-Gyeongbuk, Incheon, Gwangju-Jeonnam, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Jeonbuk, Chungbuk, Gyeongnam, Ulsan, Jeju.

Notable alumni

 * Kim, Hyo-joon, CEO of BMW Korea
 * Lee, Kyung-jun, Former CEO of KT Corporation
 * Kwon, Young-soo, Vice Chairman of LG Group, Former CEO of LG Display
 * Lee, Chul, Former CEO of Korail
 * Kim, Il-joong, CEO of Pantech Korea
 * Kim, Jun-il, CEO of Lock & Lock
 * Choi, Yoon-cheol, CEO of Dong Il Architects & Engineers
 * Lee, Pan-jung, CEO of NetPia
 * Park, In-ju, CEO of Zeniel
 * Lee, Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi-do province
 * Song, Yong-gil, Mayor of Incheon city
 * Seol, Dong-geun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
 * Kim, Choong-hwan, Member of National Assembly(Senator)
 * Lee, Jin-bok, Member of National Assembly(Senator)
 * Chung, Doo-eon, Member of National Assembly(Senator)
 * Kim, Choon-jin, Member of National Assembly(Senator)
 * Oh, Jong-nam, Professor at Seoul National University
 * Kang In-soo, singer
 * Kim Kwang-kyu, actor
 * Kim Mi-sook, actress