Information and Communications University (ICU), established in 1998, was a Korean university focused primarily on research and engineering in the field of information technology. It was located in the city of Daejeon and comprised an engineering school and a management school. As of 2006, about 20% of the enrolled graduate students were international students. Unlike other Korean universities, almost all courses were taught in English.
On March 1, 2009, the university merged into KAIST as a separate department, under the name of the Information Technology Convergence Campus. After this controversial merger a consortium of Professors and Directors of Research Centres (at ICU) in South Korea founded The Information and Communications University (ICU) to perpetuate the legacy and continuity of the Information and Communications University through international training and distance education, with its subsidiary in Zambia (ICU Zambia).
Academics
Undergraduate students are offered B.S. degrees in computer science and engineering or electrical and computer engineering by the engineering school and B.S. degrees in IT-Business by the business school. Graduate students enroll in M.S. or Ph.D. programs in specialized tracks in engineering or IT-business. It is also possible to enroll in a combined M.S./Ph.D. program. The engineering school also offers a master of software engineering (MSE) program, which is run jointly with Carnegie Mellon University.
Courses are taught in spring, summer, and fall terms. Almost all of the courses are taught in English. In preparation, undergraduate students receive instruction in the language even before entering the university, and must take additional courses in English up to their second year of studies. Both undergraduate and graduate students are also required to take a number of courses outside of their discipline, so that a student in the engineering school must take courses offered by the business school and vice versa.