With the regular recruitment of college freshmen for the 2021 school year started on the 7th, the atmosphere between universities in Seoul and local colleges is mixed. This is because the gap between the number of candidates passed over to the regular recruitment was wider than the previous year due to the fact that it was not possible to collect the number of recruits from the occasional recruitment that ended the day before after announcing several additional successful candidates. Major universities in Seoul have reduced the number of people carried over, while national universities with regional bases have expanded again. It is interpreted as a result of intensifying the concentration of universities in the metropolitan area while the school-age population is decreasing.
As a result of an analysis of the final on-time recruitment number released by each university’s admissions office on that day, reflecting the number of people carried forward, eight of the nine national universities located in the region increased the number of graduates from last year. In Chungbuk Taiwan, the number of people carried over from the previous year decreased by 92 (both inside and outside the garden). The number of people carried over to Chungbuk National University was 369 in 2020 and 277 in 2021.
Jeonnam University has the highest rate of increase of personnel carried over. In Chonnam National University, 141 people carried over in the previous year, but this time it increased by 130% to 325. Kyungpook National University increased 71% from 346 to 593. By university △ Gangwon University (Chuncheon) 52% (143 students → 217 students) △ Jeonbuk University 43% (342 students → 490 students) △ Gyeongsang University 42% (184 students → 261 students) △ Chungnam University 29% (234 students → 302 students) △ Jeju National University 14% (246 students → 281 students) △ Busan University 2.5% (364 students → 373 students), followed by a higher rate of increase. The increase in the number of carry-overs means that the number of applicants who have not registered even after receiving notification of acceptance from time to time has increased.
On the other hand, the number of transfers at universities in Seoul decreased from the previous year. Seoul National University dropped 128 students from 175 in the previous year to 47 this time. Korea University dropped from 216 to 140, and Yonsei University from 242 to 206. The number of people carried over by the remaining universities was △27 students at Chung-Ang University, △2 students at Ewha Womans University and △1 person at Hanyang University. At Sungkyunkwan University and Sogang University, the number of people carried over increased by 28 and 22, respectively.
In this occasional recruitment, universities put more effort in recruiting students than in the previous year. Seoul National University only announced one additional pass until the previous year, but this time it expanded two times. Some universities made an announcement of additional acceptance during the New Year holidays, while others considered prospective enrollment if they indicated their intention even if they did not deposit the deposit immediately after the notification of the additional acceptance. It is reported that universities were concerned that the number of on-time recruitment applicants would decrease, so they tried to recruit on-time recruitment.
Nevertheless, the widening gap between universities in Seoul and local universities is interpreted as a sign that polarization is in full swing due to a decrease in the school-age population. Man-ki Lee, Director of the Education Evaluation Research Institute, said, “We made the same efforts to recruit recruitment at any time, whether it is a university in Seoul or a local university, but because the applicant pool itself was different, there was a polarization.” I tried to do it,” he said.
It is expected that national universities that have not filled all the number of candidates for occasional recruitment will have a life and death in selecting new students in this regular recruitment. Director Lee said, “It is rare that there are cases where there is a situation where the final capacity is not met after regular recruitment,” he said. “At this time, the acceptance line of the base university is likely to be lower than in previous years.”
Meanwhile, the difficulty in recruiting new students at local universities due to the decrease in the school-age population is expected to increase in 2024 college admissions, which are paid by current third-year middle school students. As of April last year, the number of middle 3 students was 41,3179. Considering the trends in the number of students withdrawal from school, such as withdrawal and study abroad, about 397,000 students remain when the current middle 3 students become high school 3 students. That is 40,000 fewer than the current number of high school students.
Hyuk-je Kwon, head of the Department of Secondary Education at the Busan City Office of Education, said, “The number of Busan students who applied for college application for 2021 is 27,440, while the quota for four-year colleges and junior colleges is about 47,000,” he said. “All students in Busan go to universities in Busan. Even 20,000 people are not enough. This gap will get bigger and bigger,” he said. He added, “It will be enough to last the next two years, but after that, it will be a real problem.”
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