One Ivy League university has drawn more South Korean chaebol heirs than any other abroad

Ivy League school Columbia University has educated more members of South Korea's chaebol families than any other overseas university, counting Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin among its 22 alumni, a survey found.

Corporate research firm CEOScore traced the schooling of 350 members of the controlling families behind 89 major business groups, counting only those whose education could be confirmed, The Korea Herald reported.

New York University followed with 18 and Cornell University with 16, ahead of Stanford University with 15 and Harvard University and George Washington University with 14 each, according the survey released on Oct. 7.

Shin and his son Shin Yoo-yeol, an executive vice president at Lotte Corp., both earned MBAs at Columbia, where Lee Sun-ho, head of CJ Group's future planning group, studied financial economics.

Munhwa Ilbo linked the pull of Columbia and NYU to their home in New York, a center of finance, commerce and culture, and to the Wall Street connections students can build there.

Former Doosan Group Chairman Park Yong-sung is one of five Doosan family members with an NYU MBA, Seoul Economic Daily reported, while Kolon Vice Chairman Lee Kyu-ho studied hotel management at Cornell.

Annie of K-pop group AllDay Project, a granddaughter of Shinsegae Group General Chairwoman Lee Myung-hee, graduated from Columbia in May.

Outside the U.S., China's Tsinghua University and Japan's Keio University drew the most chaebol family members, with four each.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong earned an MBA at Keio and Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon a master's degree in political science, while the younger Shin studied environment and information studies there before his Columbia MBA.

A view of Columbia University, New York, the U.S. Photo by Unsplash

The share educated abroad rises with each generation, from two of 34 founders, or 5.9%, to 76 of 112 second-generation members, or 67.9%, and 122 of 155 in the third generation, or 78.7%.

Among the fourth and fifth generations, 46 of 49, or 93.9%, studied abroad.

Members of the first three generations often finished undergraduate degrees in South Korea before pursuing MBAs or other graduate study overseas, while the fourth and fifth were more likely to leave during their high school years or enroll directly in foreign undergraduate programs.

Of the 46 overseas-educated members of the youngest generations, 33, or 71.7%, attended foreign universities from the undergraduate level.

In 2011, a survey by online business researcher Chaebul.com of 146 adult children, nephews and nieces of the owners of the 30 largest groups found that 59, or about 40%, had studied at foreign universities, The Korea Times reported at the time.

At home, Korea University was the most attended school with 54 family members, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who studied physics, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, who studied business administration.

Seoul National University followed with 50, among them Samsung's Lee, who studied East Asian history, and Yonsei University with 35, including Amorepacific Group Chairman Suh Kyung-bae, a business administration graduate.

Ewha Womans University ranked fourth with 26, including Shinsegae's Lee Myung-hee, who studied applied arts.