Seoul National University Also Faces 'Liberal Arts Invasion' Reality... Is There a Solution?

Integrated CSAT Aimed at Fostering Convergent Talent Faces 'Liberal Arts Invasion'
Ministry of Education: "Adjusting CSAT Difficulty and Communicating with Universities"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Park] With the integrated CSAT for humanities and sciences, a so-called 'humanities invasion' problem is occurring, where science students are gaining massive admission to humanities and social science departments through cross-application. The Ministry of Education plans to address the issue by adjusting the difficulty level of the CSAT, but due to the four-year advance notice system for college admission policies, significant changes are not expected immediately.

The humanities invasion is becoming a reality. According to data submitted by Seoul National University to Jeong Kyung-hee, a member of the People Power Party, among the 640 students who were admitted for the first time in the regional balance and humanities, social sciences, and arts recruitment categories?open to both humanities and science students?in this year's Seoul National University regular admissions, 330 students (51.6%) were calculus or geometry test takers.

The background of the humanities invasion lies in the 'integrated humanities and sciences CSAT' introduced from the 2022 academic year. Although humanities and sciences have disappeared in high school classes, universities still separate students into humanities/social sciences and science/engineering, medical/pharmaceutical departments, leading to a divergence in expectations.

On December 9, last year, the day the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) score reports were distributed, a high school senior is looking at the CSAT score report at Gyeongbok High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Currently, although the CSAT is integrated for humanities and sciences, students who wish to apply to science/engineering or medical/pharmaceutical departments must take the mathematics section in either calculus or geometry. On the other hand, humanities and social science departments do not impose restrictions on elective subjects, allowing science students to apply. The integrated CSAT was introduced with the purpose of expanding student choice and fostering convergent talents, but a side effect has emerged where science students, strong in mathematics, gain a score advantage and apply to humanities and social science departments, increasing the burden on humanities students.

The Ministry of Education views university reform as the solution to the humanities invasion. They explain that if universities break down the walls between departments, the debate over advantages and disadvantages between humanities and sciences will also weaken.

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, stated, "Innovation occurs when capabilities combine through broad education in new technologies, humanities, and history. That is why humanities and sciences were integrated." He added, "The walls between departments are actually walls created for the convenience of professors, in other words, walls from the supply side. Children now need to learn without departmental distinctions, and once they enter university and study, they might find other fields more interesting or change their minds. Universities need to break down these departmental walls."

However, Minister Lee also noted, "Since the integrated CSAT has only been implemented for two years, there are opinions that we need to observe more, and opinions that we should rigorously analyze data to determine any advantages or disadvantages students face in admissions and respond accordingly. We are currently brainstorming and seeking solutions."

The Ministry of Education intends to appropriately adjust the difficulty of the CSAT subjects to prevent disadvantages in admissions caused by subject selection and to communicate with universities and the Korea Council for University Education (KCUE) to find improvement directions. They plan to bridge the gap between humanities students who choose probability and statistics and science students who choose geometry and calculus through difficulty adjustments in the CSAT.

However, there is criticism that such adjustments are meaningless. Due to the four-year advance notice system for college admission policies, the current integrated CSAT will be maintained until the 2027 academic year, when current middle school second graders take the exam, making immediate policy reform difficult. Some in the private education sector believe that as long as the integrated CSAT remains, the humanities invasion by science students will continue.

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