[Insight & Opinion] Reforming the Ministry of Education Entranced by the Temptation of Regulation Comes First

The chronic problem of the Ministry of Education trying to control and manipulate all universities nationwide is resurfacing. The Ministry’s promise to guarantee university autonomy through ‘zero regulation of universities’ has become futile within a year. This time, it concerns the selection of ‘undeclared majors’ (self-directed major choice) and the expansion of the ‘local talent admission track’ for regional medical schools. The Ministry mistakenly believes that the 442.6 billion KRW incentive from the University Innovation Support Project is an inexhaustible cornucopia.

The selection of undeclared majors is not new. The ‘undergraduate system’ introduced alongside the ‘graduation quota system’ in 1981 was exactly the undeclared major selection system emphasized by the Ministry. The graduation quota system, which aimed to create universities focused on studying by widening the entrance gate but strictly strengthening graduation qualifications, ended up only inflating university entrance rates. The undergraduate system, which promised to guarantee students’ right to choose their majors, failed to overcome the high barriers created by students’ indiscriminate ‘concentration’ and professors’ ‘major protectionism.’

Evaluations of Seoul National University’s College of Liberal Studies, which launched spectacularly in 2009, are mixed. The intention to allow students to experience various academic fields before choosing a major has largely been undermined. From 2019 to 2023, 36.1% of students graduating from the College of Liberal Studies concentrated in economics and business administration, while only 8% chose humanities. Notably, among 254 students who chose computer engineering, more than half?141 students?dropped out midway, which deserves attention.

Of course, undeclared and liberal majors themselves are not bad. Especially for our students, who suffer from an unreasonable and uniform university entrance exam system and thus have little time to deeply consider their actual major, undeclared major selection can be an excellent system. In fact, most universities in the United States select students through a system close to liberal majors.

However, the Ministry’s claim that undeclared major selection helps break down the chronic ‘barriers between majors’ and fosters ‘convergent talent’ in universities is unconvincing. The partitions in universities are created not by students but by professors.

Undeclared and liberal majors are not a panacea that neatly solves all university problems. In our society, where students find it difficult to ignore the social trend of concentration, the significance of undeclared major selection inevitably diminishes. The humanities faculty’s opposition that undeclared major selection will accelerate the collapse of basic academic disciplines in universities is not to be taken lightly. In reality, humanities departments in universities barely survive thanks to the ‘invasion’ of so-called ‘science track’ students who chose calculus and geometry in the college entrance exam.

The crisis of basic academic disciplines in universities is not a recent issue. Over the past decade, philosophy departments have disappeared by 25%, and their admission quotas have decreased by about 40%. The core of humanities, Korean language and literature departments, is also rapidly disappearing. The situation is equally serious for physics, chemistry, geology, and oceanography.

Students do not blindly welcome undeclared major selection either. The dropout rate of students from undeclared major programs in top-tier universities is two to five times higher, which is our reality. Next year, when medical school admission quotas increase by as many as 2,000 at once, the situation will worsen further.

It is now time to truly implement ‘zero regulation of universities.’ Reforming the Ministry of Education, which has fallen into a self-centered arrogance that thoroughly ignores the voices of universities, is more urgent than anything else.

Lee Deok-hwan, Professor Emeritus, Sogang University