Half of University Quotas Reduced by Region... Adjustments to Non-Quota Admissions (Comprehensive)

Recommended Enrollment Adjustment for Universities with Up to 50% Retention Rate by Region
Three Risk Levels for Universities; Closure Orders if Improvement Measures Not Implemented
Improvement of Undergraduate-Graduate Enrollment Adjustment Ratios and Introduction of Enrollment Adjustment for Universities under the Same Corporation

Jeong Jong-cheol, Vice Minister of Education, announced the 'Systematic Management and Innovation Support Strategy for Universities' on the 20th at the Government Complex Sejong.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Education is dividing the country into five regions and setting a standard called the enrollment maintenance rate to induce up to 50% of universities in each region to reduce their enrollment quotas. Universities must submit a total enrollment management plan including non-quota admissions, and if they fail to meet the standards, financial support will be suspended. 'At-risk universities' with poor financial conditions will be managed in three stages, and if they fail to comply with orders, closure orders will be issued.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Education announced the 'Systematic Management and Innovation Support Strategy for Universities' containing these details. The core is to push marginal universities with poor educational and financial conditions to undergo structural reform, and to encourage universities receiving financial support to set appropriate scaling measures on their own.

Jeong Jong-cheol, Vice Minister of Education, stated, "Universities receiving financial support that are selected as autonomous innovation universities through a basic competency diagnosis this August will receive university innovation support funds from next year until 2024, and by March next year, they must establish autonomous innovation reforms including appropriate scaling reforms. We will prepare a total enrollment management plan including both quota and non-quota admissions, and in the second half of next year, we will check the enrollment maintenance rate for autonomous innovation universities and make necessary expenditures based on the results."

2021 Enrollment Rate of New Students at Universities in the Seoul Metropolitan Area and Non-Metropolitan Areas (Source: Ministry of Education)

According to the Ministry of Education, as of March, the freshman enrollment rate for the 2021 academic year was 91.4%, with a total of 40,586 students unfilled. Due to the declining school-age population, the phenomenon where the university entrance age population (18 years old) falls short of the admission quota is expected to accelerate until the 2024 academic year. Assuming the university admission quota remains at 474,000 this year, the number of entrants in 2024 (373,000) will be short by about 100,000.

Among universities with unfilled spots, 75% were located outside the metropolitan area, and by type, junior colleges accounted for 59.6%. Junior colleges had lower enrollment rates than general universities, and non-metropolitan areas had lower rates than metropolitan areas. The freshman enrollment rates are ▲Metropolitan general universities (99.2%) ▲Non-metropolitan general universities (92.2%) ▲Metropolitan junior colleges (86.6%) ▲Non-metropolitan junior colleges (82.7%). The Ministry of Education also judged that metropolitan universities need to adjust their admission quotas and plans to induce even financially and educationally sound universities to comprehensively manage their quotas.

Setting Enrollment Maintenance Rates to Induce Reductions... Disclosure in May Next Year

First, the Ministry of Education will set enrollment maintenance rates by region to induce quota reductions. The enrollment maintenance rate refers to the freshman and enrolled student enrollment rate that universities must maintain at a certain level to receive financial support. Considering regional conditions and the scale of self-adjustment of quotas, reductions will be recommended to 30-50% of universities in each region. The Ministry plans to finalize the enrollment maintenance rate indicators and calculation methods by October and require universities to submit autonomous innovation plans by March next year. The enrollment maintenance rate standards will be disclosed between May and June next year.

Non-quota admissions will also be included in total enrollment management. This year, there were 45,000 freshmen admitted through non-quota admissions, with about half attending universities located in the metropolitan area. There have been criticisms that the influx of students to metropolitan universities through non-quota admissions has worsened the enrollment difficulties of regional universities. Additionally, to prevent excessive increases in non-quota admissions, some admission types will be converted or improved to quota admissions. However, the Ministry plans to pursue legal amendments to allow socially disadvantaged candidates or foreign student admissions operated by universities with good educational conditions to be absorbed into the quota.

Vice Minister Jeong said, "It is difficult to specify which region will have what percentage for the enrollment maintenance rate. The role of regional universities must continue from the perspective of regional innovation ecosystems. We expect universities to establish plans to manage quotas appropriately, considering total enrollment management including both quota and non-quota admissions, and metropolitan universities as well."

Choi Eun-ok, Director of Higher Education Policy Office, said, "Quota admissions will be managed based on the enrollment maintenance rate, and for non-quota admissions, we plan to set an overall upper limit or absorb some admission types into the quota."

Improving Adjustment Ratios Between Undergraduate and Graduate Quotas... Focused Management of Marginal Universities

Policies to flexibilize quota adjustments, which universities have requested, will also be promoted. For universities aiming to strengthen research capabilities, the adjustment ratio between undergraduate and graduate quotas will be improved. Currently, to increase a graduate master's quota by one, 1.5 to 2 undergraduate quotas must be reduced. This standard will be slightly relaxed. The Ministry plans to induce departmental restructuring by allowing quota adjustments within the same university corporation.

Additionally, a 'quota reservation system' will be introduced to allow universities to withhold recruitment for part of their admission quotas, and the system will be revised to permit quota adjustments between universities under the same corporation. If a university reorganizes focusing on lifelong vocational education and converts quotas to adult learner-dedicated courses, a certain proportion will be recognized as quota reduction achievements during enrollment maintenance rate inspections.

Vice Minister Jeong said, "We will induce universities to manage quotas by focusing on specialized fields with strengths, establishing university development strategies, sufficiently accepting lifelong learning demanders, nurturing and producing talents needed by local communities and industries, and finding meaningful roles in the region through re-education and continuing education."

Universities in financial difficulty, called 'marginal universities,' will be managed more intensively. Marginal universities refer to those that fail to meet standards in securing full-time faculty, freshman and enrolled student enrollment rates, are subject to financial support restrictions, or have poor liquidity. Structural reforms for failing universities will be promoted in connection with university financial support projects.

Furthermore, for financially at-risk universities that cannot recover, closure orders will be carried out. Starting next year, university financial statements will be evaluated, and at-risk universities will be classified into three stages according to the level of financial crisis. If corrective measures are not implemented or recovery is impossible, closure orders will be issued. A liquidation loan fund will be provided to prioritize unpaid wages for closures and liquidations, and an integrated management system for disposal and sale of closed university assets will be established next year. A cooperative system will also be built to discuss utilization plans for closed university sites and land use changes.

Promotion of National University Act Enactment... Support for Establishing Consortium Universities

The Ministry of Education also presented a university innovation support strategy that induces openness, sharing, and cooperation between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, and between general universities and junior colleges. It will promote expansion and restructuring of general financial support for financial expansion, tax reduction expansion, and relaxation of leasing restrictions on educational basic assets. The 'Regional Innovation Platform' will be expanded to enable universities and local governments to build cooperative systems for nurturing local talent. High education innovation specialized areas will be designated within regional innovation platform regions, applying customized regulatory exemptions for up to six years.

For national universities, the Ministry plans to enact the 'National University Act' within the year to expand financial support to the level of metropolitan universities or national university corporations and to grant operational autonomy and accountability. To enhance the competitiveness of national universities, support will be provided to establish a 'Joint Education Innovation System (Consortium University)' and to jointly operate academic programs based on each university's specialization fields. National universities within regions will establish joint development strategies and university-specific specialization plans to enable academic structure reforms and functional reorganization.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.