Seoul students 'structurally disadvantaged' in college admissions, survey indicates

A report showed that four out of 10 high school seniors in Seoul did not immediately go on to higher education after graduating, indicating that many choose to reapply for college admission due to the "structural disadvantage" of elite students being concentrated in the nation's capital.

The report on admissions trends by the Jongno Hagwon, a major college entrance exam preparatory academy, showed only 64.2 percent of seniors in Seoul enroll in universities straight out of high school. This was the lowest among all regions and significantly lower than the national average of 79 percent.

The survey was conducted on 324,189 students who graduated in March 2025 from 1,684 general high schools across the country.

The college enrollment rates for Gyeonggi Province and Incheon were 75.1 percent and 79.3 percent, respectively, while the areas outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area were 85.7 percent.

The gap was more pronounced for four-year university enrollment. While the national average for students entering four-year universities stood at 63.5 percent, Seoul’s rate was significantly lower at 46.2 percent.

Jongno Hagwon said Seoul students face a structural disadvantage in the admissions process. “Seoul students are suffering the most due to the Seoul-centered admissions phenomenon,” the academy said in a statement.

It added that higher education costs in Seoul contribute to a larger proportion of students choosing to retake the CSAT, compared with other regions.

The institution also noted that students nationwide tend to prefer universities located in Seoul or near their home regions. As a result, when students from outside Seoul are admitted to universities in the capital, Seoul-based students are left with fewer local options, it said.

Within Seoul, Seongdong-gu recorded the lowest four-year university enrollment rate, at just 40.1 percent. Of the 20 regions nationwide with the lowest four-year university enrollment rates, 18 were districts in Seoul, with the remaining two located in Gyeonggi Province.

In contrast, the regions with the highest four-year university enrollment rates were all located outside the capital area -- with Yeongam County in South Jeolla Province ranked first at 93.3 percent. All of the top 20 regions were outside the Seoul metropolitan area.

A significant portion of the nation’s educational infrastructure is based in Seoul, the nation's capital and most populous city. This includes top-ranked universities and private education institutes, resulting in Seoul students facing greater competition in terms of academic accomplishment.

The government is currently devising a plan to increase the competitiveness of regional universities to ease the current admissions structure, which favors Seoul-based schools. Dubbed the "plan to create 10 Seoul National Universities," the government said it expects to reveal a specific roadmap in late December.