"One in Two Medical School Regular Admissions Are from Our Academy"... Fined 1.8 Billion Won for Inflating Number of Successful Applicants

Fair Trade Commission imposes 1.83 billion KRW fine on 10 major entrance exam academies
Digital Daesang, Megastudy Education, SM Education, Etoos Education, etc.

Large entrance exam academies that have exaggerated and inflated the number of successful applicants in their advertisements were fined a total of 1.83 billion KRW by the Fair Trade Commission.

On the 10th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it imposed fines totaling 1.83 billion KRW and corrective orders on nine entrance exam academies and publishers for unfair labeling and advertising practices.

The entities sanctioned include five academy operators: Digital Daesung, Megastudy Education Co., Ltd., SM Education Co., Ltd., Etoos Education Co., Ltd., and Highconsi Co., Ltd., as well as four publishing companies: Megastudy Co., Ltd., Broker Math Co., Ltd., Igam Co., Ltd., and Imagine C&E Co., Ltd.

A representative false advertisement uncovered by the Fair Trade Commission involved inflating the number of successful applicants. Sidae Injae attracted students by advertising its repeat comprehensive class with the phrase “1 out of 2 major medical school regular admission spots is Sidae InjaeN.” This phrase was based on the academy’s own estimated number of successful applicants, not actual results.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Megastudy Education promoted its essay lecture instructor by claiming that more than 50 on-site students pass each year. However, the actual maximum number of successful students was found to be around 15, less than half of the claim. SM Education’s advertisements included phrases such as “produced the most top-grade scorers” and “holds the largest number of students,” which were found to have no basis.

There were also cases where the credentials of textbook authors were exaggerated in advertisements. Megastudy advertised that having participated in mock exams by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, the institution responsible for the CSAT, qualified as having “CSAT and KIICE mock exam experience.” Reviewer experience was also falsely represented as “exam committee member” experience.

Etoos Education advertised that the textbook author had served as an exam committee member for the CSAT seven times, but the actual participation was three times. Megastudy Education promoted that their instructor’s textbook was “consulted by KIICE exam committee members,” but in reality, no such consultation took place.

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