Howon University

About Howon University

Howon University (호원대학교) is a distinguished private comprehensive university located in Gunsan, Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province (Jeollabuk-do), South Korea. Established in 1977 as Gunsan Industrial Junior College, the institution attained full four-year university status in 1998. Howon University is internationally celebrated across East Asia as the preeminent training ground for the Korean entertainment industry through its Department of Applied Music (실용음악학부) and Department of K-POP, widely recognized alongside the Seoul Institute of the Arts as one of South Korea's most selective pop music academies with admission audition ratios regularly exceeding 200:1. The university boasts an illustrious roster of alumni including prominent members of global K-pop groups such as 2PM, BTOB, VIXX, and celebrated vocalists such as Baek A-yeon, Kim Feel, and Jeong Se-woon. Beyond performing arts, Howon University maintains exceptional regional placement and licensing records across clinical healthcare sciences (Nursing, Physical Therapy, Emergency Medical Services, Dental Hygiene), aviation customer service (complete with full-scale aircraft cabin mock-ups), hotel culinary arts, and municipal fire & disaster prevention engineering. Howon operates a dual-campus infrastructure comprising its spacious, nature-rich Gunsan Main Campus (equipped with sound-isolated studios, hospital simulation wards, and residential dormitories) and the dedicated Howon Art Hall & Seoul Practice Center (located in Seongnae-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul) which provides state-of-the-art recording studios, live ensemble practice halls, and performance stages for upper-year music and performing arts scholars.