"Decreasing Opportunities for Gaechunyong... 70% Chance of Failing to Enter Prestigious Universities Despite Efforts"

Analysis by Professor Ju Byung-ki of Seoul National University in Tax and Fiscal Brief
A Study on Educational Opportunity Inequality and College Admission Screening as Reflected in College Entrance Outcomes

On the 19th, at Konkuk University Alumni Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, parents are examining the placement chart based on the provisional CSAT scoring results during the 2022 College Entrance Regular Admission Strategy Briefing hosted by Jongno Academy. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyun-jung] An analysis revealed that even with special efforts, the probability of failing to enter prestigious universities reaches 70% due to opportunity inequality when parents have low educational attainment or belong to the lowest income class.

Professor Ju Byung-ki of Seoul National University released a report titled “A Study on Educational Opportunity Inequality and College Admission Screening as Reflected in College Entrance Outcomes” in the Tax and Fiscal Brief published on the 25th, containing these research findings.

Professor Ju utilized the “Gaechun-yong Opportunity Inequality Index,” an opportunity inequality indicator he developed, for the analysis. This index calculates the probability that a person from the most disadvantaged environment within a group achieves top income or academic performance, then subtracts this value from 1. According to Professor Ju, a value of 0 indicates no opportunity inequality, while 1 indicates the highest degree of opportunity inequality.

Spanning from the early 2000s to 2011, Professor Ju confirmed a clear presence of opportunity inequality in college entrance outcomes based on household environments. To do this, he analyzed opportunity inequality across a total of 12 cohorts (specific groups). For college entrance outcomes, the top five universities in the 2019 QS World University Rankings were assigned the highest score of 5 points, as were national medical, dental, Korean medicine, veterinary, and pharmacy schools. The next top 10 universities received 4 points, and the remaining top 39 universities and education universities were assigned 3 points.

In the related analysis, the Gaechun-yong Opportunity Inequality Index averaged about 0.7 based on academic achievement and other criteria. This means that due to opportunity inequality related to household environment, the probability of failing to enter the top universities reaches 70%. Professor Ju stated, “Throughout the entire survey period, the degree of opportunity inequality showed a slight increasing trend,” adding, “Inequality of opportunity was also confirmed between genders and regions.” He further emphasized, “To reduce such gaps, college admission screening methods that are relatively less influenced by socioeconomic environment or that reflect students’ socioeconomic background information should be implemented to guarantee equal admission opportunities across social classes.” He cited the UK’s contextual admissions favoring disadvantaged backgrounds, the US’s affirmative action policies, equal opportunity admissions, and rural area admissions as examples.

Regarding the interpretation that the “regular admission” (Jeongsi) system might be fairer than the “early admission” (Susi) system based on these results, Professor Ju explained, “The gap in opportunity inequality between the two admission types has continuously decreased during the survey period, and the proportion of admissions by each type has also changed significantly, so additional analysis is necessary for an accurate comparison.”