Ministry of Health and Welfare Temporarily Increases Nursing College Admissions Quota... Scale to Be Decided by Year-End

The Ministry of Health and Welfare will temporarily increase the admission quota for nursing colleges.

On the 1st, the Ministry held the first 'Nursing Workforce Expert Committee' meeting and announced this plan. This committee is a follow-up measure to the '2nd Comprehensive Plan for Nursing Workforce Support' announced in April this year. It was established to determine the admission quota for nursing colleges based on social discussions and scientific evidence. The committee is a specialized committee under the 'Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee' according to the 'Framework Act on Health and Medical Services.' The committee is chaired by the Director-General of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare and includes a total of 14 members, comprising government officials, experts from various fields, and representatives recommended by patient and civic groups.

The national admission quota for nursing colleges has been increased by 700 students annually compared to the previous year since the 2019 academic year. The admission quota for nursing colleges in the 2023 academic year is 23,183 students. There are a total of 198 universities nationwide that have nursing colleges or departments. However, clinical nursing staff are insufficient compared to the OECD average. Small and medium-sized hospitals in provincial areas are experiencing difficulties in securing nursing staff.

As of last year, there are approximately 481,100 licensed nurses. Among them, 254,000 nurses (52.6%) are actively working in medical institutions. Including nurses working as national and local government nursing officials, 119 firefighters, and in long-term care facilities and other health-related institutions, the overall activity rate of nurses is about 73%. Considering the reemployment rates by age group, the number of inactive nurses who could potentially return to medical sites is only about 40,000. According to mid- to long-term supply and demand projections for nursing staff, assuming the workload intensity of nurses is reduced to 80% of the current level, there is expected to be a shortage of 56,000 nurses by 2035.

Accordingly, the government decided in the '2nd Comprehensive Plan for Nursing Workforce Support' to temporarily increase the admission quota for nursing colleges. The committee discussed the scale of the increase in admission quotas for the 2025 academic year and the allocation method of admission quotas by nursing college (draft). By the end of this year, the scale of the increase in admission quotas for nursing colleges for the 2025 academic year will be decided, and the results will be reported to the 'Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee' and notified to the Ministry of Education.

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