Objectives This study was conducted to explore and analyze research trends related to the quality of higher education in South Korea by utilizing content analysis and keyword network analysis methods. The target period for the analysis includes publications released between 2013 and March 2024. Methods To achieve this, relevant literature on the quality of higher education in South Korea was selected for analysis. Quantitative content analysis was employed to investigate research trends. Additionally, keywords were extracted from the literature, and analyses of keyword occurrence frequency, co-occurrence frequency, centrality, and community were performed to explore keyword network patterns related to higher education quality. Results The results of the analysis are as follows. First, content analysis revealed that research related to the quality of higher education has been generally increasing, influenced by government policies. The most frequently studied topic was found to be ‘performance management and institutional research’. Second, keyword analysis showed that keywords such as ‘learning outcomes’, ‘educational outcomes’, and ‘quality management’ had high frequency and centrality, indicating that related research has been focused on outputs and performance. Additionally, keywords like ‘learning experience’, ‘student engagement’, and ‘faculty-student interaction’ were found to be relatively highly associated with these core keywords. Conclusions The study concludes that research on the quality of higher education in South Korea is influenced by government policies and is primarily focused on outputs and performance. Therefore, there is a need for diverse policy support from the government to diversify and invigorate research topics related to the quality of higher education.