Start with the qualification route and your records
Repeating a course you already completed or leaving placement arrangements until the end can increase tuition and delay study.
This planner compares your highest qualification and transcript against the required theory, electives, practicum and seminars for Korean Social Worker Level 2.
It is designed for career changers, adults returning to study, and people who took relevant university courses years ago.
Degree requirements and professional qualification courses are separate checks.
Without an associate degree or recognized equivalent, completing the social welfare subjects still leaves a degree requirement.
A bachelor degree alone does not replace missing required subjects or practicum.
When combining this plan with the Academic Credit Bank degree calculator, have your provider check overlapping credits so that the same course is not counted twice.
Check your status at the January 1, 2020 transition
Rules were verified on September 8, 2026 using the Enforcement Rule effective August 27, 2026.
The undergraduate route in Annex 1 requires 10 required courses worth 30 credits and 7 electives worth 21 credits: 17 courses and 51 credits in total.
Each course must carry at least 3 credits.
The 10 required courses include one practicum, leaving 9 required theory courses and 7 electives for a new learner.
The supplementary provisions of Ordinance No.
663 distinguish people already undertaking or finished with practicum at the change from those who had completed or were taking other relevant subjects.
Eligible transitional cases use 10 required courses, 4 electives and 120 placement hours.
Check the actual study start and status at January 1, 2020 rather than a certificate issue year or credit-recognition application year.
Unknown history receives a modern-rule reference without confirming transitional eligibility.
How to enter the course checklist
Select each required theory subject individually.
Extra electives cannot replace a missing required subject.
Repeat attempts and the same subject taken at two providers do not create additional distinct qualification courses.
Exclude ongoing study, unconfirmed recognition and courses carrying fewer than 3 credits until your provider has reviewed them.
Older transcripts can use former titles for introductory welfare, social welfare law, medical or school social work, mental health social work and welfare history.
The Korean interface shows former-name hints to help your review; these do not automatically grant equivalence.
The Annex permits a differently named course when the Minister recognizes equivalent content.
Prepare the transcript and course description before mapping an older title to a current subject.
The elective deficit is a count of additional distinct approved subjects.
The planner does not choose unspecified electives for you, so confirm openings and prerequisite subjects before enrollment.
Interests such as older-adult welfare, family welfare or case management can guide your choice but do not replace qualification requirements.
Use the saved checklist to avoid enrolling again in an already completed elective.
Placement hours and practicum credit are separate
The modern placement minimum is 160 hours; the transitional old minimum is 120 hours.
Enter actual placement time that your education provider recognizes.
Do not convert volunteering or employment history into placement hours yourself.
Hours above the minimum do not reduce theory or elective requirements, and the remaining hours stop at zero.
The practicum-course checkbox and placement-hour entry represent separate records.
Completing all hours does not award a course grade or credits automatically.
Conversely, if the course is marked completed but hours or seminars are short, the result does not advance to document preparation.
Ask your provider to reconcile the transcript and placement certificate and determine whether correction, additional recognition or a retake is required.
An older theory-course history does not remove checks on current placement selection and supervision.
Different transitional treatment may apply when reviewing a placement already completed or underway at the change.
Do not assume an old exemption automatically covers a newly started placement.
Before signing up or paying, verify that the placement can be recognized within your particular course route.
Thirty seminar hours alone may be insufficient
Under the modern rule, seminars must include at least 15 sessions of at least 2 hours each.
A total of 30 hours does not by itself establish the required session count.
Fourteen valid sessions still leave one session missing even if some meetings were longer.
Enter only recognized sessions lasting at least 2 hours.
A provider delivering online education must include at least 3 in-person seminar sessions.
Those sessions are part of the 15, not an additional 3 creating a requirement of 18.
Fifteen sessions with only 2 in-person sessions leave one in-person session outstanding.
An in-person count higher than the total session count is an input error and withholds results.
Not automatically applying the modern 15-session rule to a transitional learner does not remove the course-provider attendance requirements.
A provider-review result does not mean zero hours or a blanket exemption.
Do not carry past temporary online substitutions or indirect-placement arrangements into a current course without checking the current term and recognized session format.
Study terms combine prerequisites and credit caps
The Academic Credit Bank schedule applies caps of 24 credits per term and 42 per academic year.
Term 1 runs from March to August and term 2 from September to the following February, classified by course end date.
Even with a preference for 8 courses, previously allocated credits reduce available capacity.
Include classes at other providers in the starting-term and academic-year totals.
The default prerequisites of 4 required theory courses and 2 electives are examples, not a uniform statutory enrollment rule.
Replace them with the provider requirements.
Only courses completed before the practicum term count as prerequisites; theory taken concurrently does not.
If a provider requires more elective prerequisites than the qualification minimum, the extra subjects are shown separately and included in schedule and cost.
The schedule prioritizes missing required and elective prerequisites before assigning other subjects.
Practicum requires completed prerequisites, the entered opening term and available course-credit capacity.
A cap or opening delay can produce a zero-credit waiting row.
The model assumes no other new classes in later terms and that all outstanding placement and seminars fit within their assigned term.
Verify weekly availability and individual course openings separately.
Use actual quotes for remaining costs
Tuition for this qualification is not a single nationwide statutory price.
Enter the quoted theory-course unit price, practicum-course tuition, placement-provider fee and other remaining expenses such as books, travel and documents.
Initial zeros are unentered quotes, not a promise of free study.
The total remains withheld until you confirm the quote.
A genuinely zero remaining charge after support or a scholarship can be entered and confirmed.
The formula multiplies remaining theory courses by unit tuition, adds practicum tuition if that course is unfinished, then adds future placement fees and other costs.
Avoid duplicate charges if a package already includes the placement-provider fee.
Separate paid invoices from future charges.
Degree costs and licensing-review charges are separate unless you have explicitly included their confirmed remaining amounts in other costs.
Worked examples for new and returning learners
Consider an associate-degree holder starting from zero under modern rules, beginning in term 1, preferring up to 8 courses per term, with 4 required theory and 2 elective prerequisites and practicum opening in the second scheduled term.
The deficit is 17 courses, 51 credits and 160 placement hours.
The default allocation is 8 courses, then 6, then 3 in the next academic year: 3 terms.
Assigning 8 courses in each of the first two terms would exceed the 42-credit academic-year cap.
With confirmed example quotes of KRW 100,000 per theory course, KRW 300,000 practicum tuition, KRW 200,000 future placement fees and KRW 50,000 other expenses, the total is KRW 2,150,000.
Sixteen theory courses account for KRW 1,600,000.
These are fictional quote inputs, not market averages.
A learner without a degree must not read these terms and costs as the entire path to qualification.
A learner covered by the transition who started theory in 2019 and has 4 required theory courses and 2 electives recognized has 5 required theory courses, 1 practicum and 2 electives remaining: 8 courses.
With no recognized placement hours, the deficit is 120 hours.
Without evidence of transitional coverage, provider suitability and actual openings, these are provisional figures under the selected rule.
Review the saved plan with the old transcript before enrolling.
Turn the result into an enrollment checklist
Enter the qualification, first course year and status at the 2020 change first.
Leave transition confirmation unchecked when evidence is missing.
Then check transcript subjects and separately enter practicum credit completion, recognized hours, all valid seminars and in-person sessions.
A placement certificate alone does not establish completion of every course requirement.
Use provider enrollment guidance to update prerequisites and the first practicum opening, and include other classes in the same academic year.
Check whether practicum tuition and the placement-provider charge are separate before entering future expenses.
The save button downloads a text file containing the current entries, assumptions, course list, hours, schedule, costs and sources.
Open it to print or use it during provider consultation.
A document-preparation result means the entered degree, quantities and confirmation checks are satisfied.
It does not mean license approval, completion of disqualification checks, submission of documents or a confirmed issue date.
Consult the licensing center for current submission requirements and prepare final transcripts, degree evidence and practicum records.
If course conditions change, compare your saved versions to identify the new gaps.
Frequently asked questions
Do 17 courses alone qualify me?
The modern undergraduate route needs 10 required courses and 7 electives, together with the degree, practicum credit, placement, seminars and final review.
Graduate exceptions and foreign qualifications require a separate route review.
Does a 2019 start automatically establish old-rule coverage?
No.
Match evidence of completed or ongoing study at the change against Ordinance No.
663, distinguishing theory history from practicum history.
A later credit-recognition application does not itself change when study took place.
Why is a course missing after 160 hours?
Placement time and completion of the 3-credit practicum course are separate entries.
Confirm the grade and seminars, then mark the course completed only when the credit is recognized.
Are the 3 in-person sessions additional?
For an online provider, the 3 in-person sessions are included within the modern total of 15.
Count only valid sessions lasting at least 2 hours, with the in-person count as a subset.
Are 4 required and 2 elective prerequisites a national legal rule?
Those defaults are illustrative scheduling inputs.
Replace them with the provider requirements, including when completion is required and any specified subjects.
Does a three-term plan also finish a degree for a school leaver?
No.
The displayed terms schedule qualification courses and practicum only.
Degree credit totals, major and general education requirements and degree application timing are separate; use the degree planner as well.
How does a confirmed zero differ from an unconfirmed quote?
Initial zeros with quote confirmation unchecked mean no price was entered.
Confirm zero only after verifying that no remaining charge is due, for example after applicable support.
Official sources and updates
Verified September 8, 2026: Social Welfare Services Act Article 11 (MST 270405); Enforcement Decree Annex 1 (MST 283185, effective February 3, 2026); Enforcement Rule Article 3 and Annex 1 (MST 289175, effective August 27, 2026, Annex serial 18421797).
Ordinance No. 663 supplementary provisions Articles 2 and 3 took effect January 1, 2020, with the specified selection-notice provision effective October 1, 2019.
The pre-change Annex was checked in MST 203478, effective May 2, 2018.
Before each term or after a rule change, recheck the Annex, transition provisions, selected providers, prerequisite subjects, seminar delivery and openings.
The planner does not assess individual supervisors, provider approval, disability or disqualification status, or license approval.
Prepare your transcript and save the missing-course plan
Use the planner above to review course names, placement hours and seminars, then save the result for your provider consultation.
Confirm the next enrollment and placement arrangements before committing tuition.
Calculate Academic Credit Bank degree time and costs
Korean rules verified in 2026 · At least 3 credits per course · Pre-application planning
For undergraduate-level coursework and Academic Credit Bank scheduling. Select only completed, recognized courses and review the result with your provider and the licensing center.
Transcript and rule confirmation needed
Rule assumption: 10 required + 7 elective courses · 160 placement hours · 2026-09-08
Remaining qualification courses
17 courses
51 credits
Remaining placement
160 hours
Separate from course credit
Scheduled study terms
3 terms
Provider schedule unconfirmed
Additional quoted total
Quote needed
Degree costs are separate
Missing courses and seminar checklist
Conditional term-by-term schedule
A zero-credit row can be a cap or opening wait. Only earlier-term completions satisfy prerequisites. Verify individual course openings and additional sequencing with the provider.
Additional cost breakdown
Remaining theory courses × unit tuition + unfinished practicum tuition + future placement fee + other costs. Unconfirmed line items are input references only.