One in Three SKY University Freshmen Are from Seoul... Twice the National Four-Year College Average

Seoul National University Has Highest Proportion of Students from Seoul at 36.6%
Share of Students from Small and Medium-Sized Cities and Rural Areas Below National Average

For the 2025 academic year, the proportion of freshmen from Seoul at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University exceeded 30%, which is twice the national average. In contrast, the proportion of students from small and medium-sized cities and rural areas was relatively low, once again highlighting the educational gap between regions.

Seoul National University Main Gate

According to the university information disclosure site, University Alimi, on January 23, out of 13,475 freshmen admitted to Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University for the 2025 academic year, 4,337 were from Seoul, accounting for 32.2% of the total. This figure is twice the proportion of Seoul-born freshmen at four-year universities nationwide, which stands at 16.0%.

By university, Seoul National University had the highest proportion of students from Seoul at 36.6%, with 1,381 out of 3,775 freshmen coming from Seoul. At Yonsei University, 1,358 out of 4,525 freshmen (30.0%) were from Seoul, while at Korea University, 1,598 out of 5,175 freshmen (30.9%) were from Seoul.

All three universities saw a slight increase in the proportion of freshmen from Seoul compared to the previous year. Notably, Korea University recorded a rise from 29.1% in the 2024 academic year to 30.88% in the 2025 academic year, an increase of 1.78 percentage points, surpassing the 30% mark for the first time.

On the other hand, the number of freshmen from small and medium-sized cities and rural areas totaled only 5,817. In terms of proportion, students from small and medium-sized cities accounted for 31.9%, and those from rural areas accounted for 11.3%, which are 9.4 percentage points and 2.0 percentage points lower, respectively, compared to the national average.

Among the three universities, Yonsei University had the lowest proportion of freshmen from small and medium-sized cities and rural areas, with 31.1% from small and medium-sized cities and 10.4% from rural areas. At Seoul National University, the figures were 32.0% and 12.1%, respectively, while at Korea University, they were 32.4% and 11.5%.

There were also clear differences in the types of high schools attended by the freshmen. While 73.42% of freshmen at four-year universities nationwide came from general high schools, only 58.3% of freshmen at Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University did so.

For the three universities, after general high schools, autonomous private high schools accounted for the next largest share at 12.1%, followed by foreign language/international high schools (10.1%), science high schools (2.2%), and gifted schools (0.7%).