In South Korea, with the decline of the school-age population and changes in the industrial structure, the reform of higher education has become a topic of great concern. Recently, a number of universities in Seoul have begun to push forward with a major reform to admit some new students regardless of major.
A few days ago, Yonsei University in South Korea set up a special committee to discuss the issue of recruiting new students regardless of major.
Specifically, this means that freshmen do not need to choose a major before entering the school, and can make a decision after entering the sophomore year. In fact, some universities in South Korea have already started to try this method, but it accounts for less than 1 of the total number of admissions. Since 2024, many well-known universities in Seoul, including Yonsei University, have decided to promote this practice, and each has increased the number of new students regardless of major to hundreds, accounting for more than 10%.
According to the plan of the Ministry of Education of South Korea, more than 50 private universities in the metropolitan area and more than 30 national universities in the country need to gradually increase the proportion of students enrolled regardless of major, so as to be able to obtain the best financial subsidies. Due to the drastic decline in the school-age population, South Korea is eager to increase the flexibility of university admissions in order to enhance its international competitiveness. At the same time, with the rapid changes in the social and industrial structure, comprehensive human resources and cooperation capabilities are becoming more and more important, and Korea hopes to cultivate human resources that are more suitable for the needs of the future society by breaking down the barriers between disciplines.
However, there are already a lot of worries in South Korea. Some educators have pointed out that this could lead to the further neglect of humanities and other disciplines that are relatively difficult to find employment in South Korea, and even face the risk of disappearance. On the other hand, popular subjects such as artificial intelligence may face a shortage of professors, resulting in a decline in the quality of teaching.
Many students said that this is simply extending high school for another year, and if they fail to squeeze into the major they want to choose in their sophomore year, then the so-called right to choose a major is reflected in the **??Therefore, some universities have also called on the education authorities not to rush forward with the new regulations, but to improve the existing system such as changing departments and majors first, so as to avoid excessive confusion.