Universities Failing to Meet Enrollment Quotas Face Capacity Reduction... Financial Support Suspended if Not Complied

If This Year's University Admission Quotas Are Maintained, 2024 Enrollment Faces a Shortfall of 100,000 Students
Freshmen Shortfall of 40,000 Again This Year... Low Enrollment Rates in Junior Colleges and Non-Capital Regions
Financially At-Risk Universities Divided into 3 Levels; Closure Orders If Corrective Actions Are Not Implemented

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Education is establishing maintenance enrollment rate standards for five regional zones to assist universities facing new student recruitment crises due to declining school-age populations. Universities will submit their own adjustment plans, and if they fall short of the standards, reduction will be recommended; failure to comply will result in suspension of financial support. Incentives such as improving the ratio of enrollment adjustments between undergraduate and graduate schools, allowing enrollment adjustments between universities under the same corporation, and implementing a reserved enrollment system have also been proposed.

Announced on the 20th, the Ministry of Education's "Systematic Management and Innovation Support Strategy for Universities" includes measures to induce restructuring for marginal universities and encourage enrollment reductions for universities receiving financial support. Jeong Jong-cheol, Vice Minister of Education, stated, "Universities selected as autonomous innovation universities through the Basic University Competency Diagnosis in August this year will receive university innovation support funds from next year through 2024 and must establish autonomous innovation reforms, including appropriate scaling reforms, by March next year. A total volume management plan, including enrollment inside and outside the quota, will be prepared, and in the second half of next year, the maintenance enrollment rate will be checked for autonomous innovation universities, with necessary expenditures made based on the results."

40,000 New Students Shortfall This Year... More Severe in Non-Capital Regions and Junior Colleges

According to the Ministry of Education, as of March, the new student enrollment rate for the 2021 academic year was 91.4%, with a total shortfall of 40,586 students. Among universities with shortfalls, 75% were in non-capital regions, and by type, junior colleges accounted for 59.6%. Enrollment rates were lower in junior colleges than in general universities, and lower in non-capital regions than in the capital region. The new student enrollment rates are △Capital region general universities (99.2%) △Non-capital region general universities (92.2%) △Capital region junior colleges (86.6%) △Non-capital region junior colleges (82.7%). The worsening new student enrollment shortage is attributed to the decline in the school-age population. As those born in the 2000s, when ultra-low birth rates began in earnest, started entering universities, the pool of potential university entrants sharply decreased. Assuming the university admission quota remains at 474,000 this year, the number of entrants in 2024 (373,000) is expected to fall short by about 100,000.

Closure Orders for At-Risk Universities, Autonomous Reduction Encouraged for Financially Supported Universities

From the second half of the year, the Ministry of Education will evaluate university settlement data and classify at-risk universities into three levels based on financial crisis severity. If corrective measures are not implemented or recovery is impossible, closure orders will be issued. To facilitate closure and liquidation, support for liquidation loans prioritizing unpaid wages and an integrated management system for disposal and sale of closed university assets will be established. For universities receiving financial support, appropriate enrollment standards will be set, along with maintenance enrollment rates for five regional zones. The maintenance enrollment rate refers to the minimum new and continuing student enrollment rate universities must maintain to receive financial support. Even capital region universities will be recommended to reduce enrollment if they fall short of the standards. Considering regional conditions and the scale of self-adjustment, 30-50% of universities in each zone will be recommended for reduction. Failure to comply will result in suspension of general financial support. The maintenance enrollment rate standards will be disclosed between May and June next year, with enrollment reduction effects expected from 2023.

Vice Minister Jeong said, "While capital region top universities will not have issues with maintenance enrollment rates, universities that must compete globally should shift their focus toward graduate schools. The reality of filling shortages through enrollment outside the quota and the concentration of students in capital region universities requires consideration even within capital region universities."

Enrollment outside the quota, which has been a blind spot, will also be included in total volume management. This year, 45,000 new students were admitted outside the quota, half of whom enrolled in universities located in the capital region. Additionally, to prevent excessive increases in enrollment outside the quota, some admissions will be converted or improved to within-quota selection. However, for socially disadvantaged groups or foreign student admissions operated by universities with favorable educational conditions, legal amendments will be pursued to absorb them within the quota.

Choi Eun-ok, Director of Higher Education Policy at the Ministry of Education, said, "Enrollment within the quota will be managed based on maintenance enrollment rate standards, and enrollment outside the quota will be managed separately, either by setting an overall cap or absorbing some admissions within the quota."

Improvement of Graduate-Undergraduate Enrollment Ratio, Implementation of Reserved Enrollment System

Policies to flexibilize enrollment adjustments, which universities have requested, will also be pursued. The ratio of enrollment adjustments between undergraduate and graduate schools will be improved for universities aiming to be research-oriented. Currently, to increase one master's graduate enrollment, 1.5 to 2 undergraduate enrollments must be reduced. The enforcement decree will be amended in the second half of this year, and the improvement plan will be finalized. Adjustments between universities under the same corporation will be encouraged to enable department restructuring. Corporations operating both junior colleges and general universities will be able to integrate overlapping departments and adjust enrollment. The 'reserved enrollment system,' which allows partial reservation of admission quotas, will also be implemented.

An official from the Ministry of Education explained, "The principle is to recognize this restrictively, and only a certain percentage will be acknowledged when reflecting reduction achievements. The conditions for reverting reserved enrollment will be presented in October." If universities reorganize focusing on lifelong vocational education and convert enrollment to adult learner-dedicated courses, a certain percentage will be recognized as enrollment reduction achievements.

Financial Expansion Measures... Increased Financial Support for National Universities and Support for Consortium Universities

Measures to expand and reorganize general financial support, expand tax exemptions, and relax leasing of basic educational assets will be promoted to enhance university finances. For national universities, financial support will be increased to the level of capital region universities or national university corporations, and the enactment of the 'National University Act' will be pursued within the year to allow operational autonomy and accountability. To strengthen national university competitiveness, support will be provided to establish a 'Joint Education Innovation System (Consortium Universities)' enabling joint academic operations based on each university's specialization. National universities within regions will develop joint development strategies and individual specialization plans to enable academic structure reorganization and functional readjustment.

Song Ki-chang, Professor of Education at Sookmyung Women's University, said, "Universities are struggling financially due to tuition freezes, and their negative stance on reducing undergraduate enrollment is also due to financial reasons. Linking enrollment rate indicators to financial support or promising support if enrollment is reduced is ultimately a zero-sum game. Many local universities are private, and it is regrettable that the measures only include support for national universities."

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