'2025 College Admission Plan' Announced Today... 'Regional Talent and Non-Major Quotas' Revealed

Ministry of Education and Daekyo Council to Release Final Plan Today
Universities to Publish Admission Guidelines by 31st
Detailed Admission Numbers Including Medical School Expansion Announced
Regional Talent Screening Expected to Increase by Over 800

The Ministry of Education will announce the '2025 College Admission Implementation Plan,' reflecting the increased medical school quotas and the expansion of non-major admissions. This completes the revision process of next year's college admission plan, which will be taken by current high school seniors, including the first medical school expansion in 27 years.

The Ministry of Education and the Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) are scheduled to release the final implementation plan containing these details on the 30th. Earlier, on the 24th, the KCUE held the University Admission Committee meeting and unanimously approved the changes to the college admission implementation plan. The announced plan will include the final revised recruitment numbers, the increased medical school quotas, and the specific plans for early and regular admissions (ratios) for next year's college entrance.

According to the Ministry of Education, including Cha University of Medicine, a medical professional graduate school, the number of medical school admissions next year is estimated to increase by 1,509 compared to the previous year. The total number of medical school admissions for next year is expected to be 4,567. The Ministry explained, "Including recruitment beyond the quota, the actual number of admissions may increase." This is the first increase in medical school quotas in 27 years since 1998.

In the 2025 academic year admissions, the number of regional talent admissions for medical schools is also expected to increase. The implementation plan to be announced will include the regional talent admission ratios for 26 non-metropolitan universities. The regional talent admission system allows only students who have attended high school for three years in the region where the non-metropolitan university is located to apply to medical schools in that region.

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is making an announcement regarding the allocation of 2,000 medical school quotas on the 20th at the Joint Briefing Room of the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The scale of regional talent admissions for the 2025 academic year is estimated to reach around 1,900 students. This is expected to increase by about 800 compared to the 1,071 students selected in the 2024 academic year admissions. The Ministry of Education has recommended that each university select at least 60% of their admissions through the regional talent admission system.

According to analysis by Jongno Academy, by region, the estimates are 466 students in the Honam area (73.5% of the quota for that region), 485 in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (68.2%), 366 in Daegu and Gyeongbuk (63.7%), 463 in the Chungcheong area (63.4%), 36 in Jeju (51.4%), and 150 in Gangwon (38.4%).

On this day, the Ministry of Education will also disclose the ratio of non-major admissions (major autonomy selection system). The major autonomy selection system allows students to freely explore their career paths in their first year and choose their major as they advance to higher grades. According to the Ministry, 73 universities in the metropolitan area and nationwide national and public universities (excluding education universities) have decided to raise the non-major admission ratio to at least 25% of their total recruitment for next year's admissions.

The Ministry of Education plans to provide financial support to universities by awarding additional points based on the non-major admission ratio. The bonus point system will apply to 51 metropolitan universities, 9 regional flagship national universities, and 13 national central universities. Once each university publishes the finalized admission guidelines on their website by the 31st, the procedure for increasing medical school quotas next year will be completed.