The Department of Semiconductors Has 47 Seats, but 73 Dropouts... Despite Job Guarantees, Many Withdraw Registration

Yonsei, Korea, Sogang, and Hanyang University Semiconductor Contract Department Dropout Rate 155.3%

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] In the 2023 academic year university regular admissions, it has been revealed that all or the majority of students who were accepted into semiconductor departments at major universities in Seoul have declined to enroll. This is also analyzed to be due to a shift to other fields, including medical sciences.

According to Jongno Academy on the 17th, in the recently concluded 2023 regular admissions, the enrollment decline rate for semiconductor departments at four major universities?Yonsei University, Korea University, Sogang University, and Hanyang University?where employment connections with large corporations are possible, was recorded at 155.3% relative to the number of recruits.

The total number of recruits for semiconductor departments at the four universities was 47, but 73 students withdrew citing registration at other universities. This is about 4.7 times higher than the overall enrollment decline rate of 33.0% for natural sciences at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University.

Contract departments guarantee employment if certain criteria are met, so they are places where top-tier students enroll alongside medical science fields. It is expected that a large-scale withdrawal occurred because many admitted students were also accepted into other medical science fields.

Specifically, Yonsei University's Department of System Semiconductor Engineering, linked with Samsung Electronics, had 13 students decline enrollment despite recruiting 10. This means all initial successful candidates and three additional successful candidates declined enrollment.

Korea University's Department of Semiconductor Engineering, linked with SK Hynix, had 8 out of 11 students (72.7%) not enroll, and Sogang University's Department of System Semiconductor Engineering had 8 out of 10 students (80.0%) not enroll. Particularly, Hanyang University's Department of Semiconductor Engineering, linked with SK Hynix, saw 44 students (275.0%) decline enrollment, nearly three times the recruitment number (16 students).

Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, explained, "Despite government policies and connections with large corporations, semiconductor-related departments appear to be losing out to medical science fields and the science and engineering departments of Seoul National University."