"14 Regional Universities with 26 Departments Have '0 Applicants' in Regular Admissions"

Parents referring to the regular admission placement chart [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] In the 2023 academic year college entrance regular admissions (based on general admissions within the quota), there were 26 departments at 14 universities nationwide with zero applicants.

According to Jongno Academy on the 10th, an analysis of 208 universities nationwide that disclosed the final competition rates for regular admissions (excluding arts and physical education and religion-related universities) revealed that there were 26 departments with '0 applicants,' including 16 in the humanities field (61.5%) and 10 in the natural sciences field.

The number of departments with '0 applicants' was only 3 (all humanities) in the 2020 academic year, 5 (4 humanities, 1 natural sciences) in 2021, but surged to 23 (14 humanities, 9 natural sciences) last year and continued to increase this year.

All departments with no applicants were established at universities outside the metropolitan area (8 regions).

By region, 10 departments at universities in the Gyeongbuk area, 4 departments in the Gyeongnam area, and 4 departments in the Jeonnam area had no applicants for regular admissions. Additionally, there were '0 applicant' departments in Busan (2), Chungnam (2), Chungbuk (2), Gangwon (1), and Jeonbuk (1).

The number of students originally planned to be recruited for departments with '0 applicants' was 258 in the 2022 academic year (23 departments), but this year it was 445.

In the humanities field, it is notable that there were no applicants for tourism and aviation-related departments such as the aviation-related department at University A (33 recruits), the aviation-related department at University B (30 recruits), and the tourism-related department at University C (27 recruits).

This difficulty in recruiting freshmen at non-metropolitan universities is likely to become more severe in the future. Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, analyzed, "Although proactive countermeasures have recently been announced, their practical effects are not significant," and added, "The occurrence of departments with '0 applicants' may increase faster than expected going forward."