District partners with top local universities and Jungnang-gu to offer elite career exploration without private tutoring — hands-on programs from cutting-edge science to top-tier medicine, with school record entries for students completing 80 percent or more
Seoul's Dongdaemun-gu has launched its 2026 University Department Experience Program in line with the full implementation of the high school credit system.
With the high school credit system now fully in effect, students are increasingly expected to choose and explore subjects that match their own career paths.
The district drew on its strong university infrastructure and, working under the district education office and in cooperation with Jungnang-gu, built an education partnership framework linking the education office, local governments, universities and community institutions — giving students access to high-level advanced learning and career exploration without private tutoring.
A total of 19 programs have been opened this year, spanning media, advanced science and engineering, medicine and healthcare, and the humanities, social sciences, diplomacy and the arts.
In May, students at the Jungnang Youth Center took part in a short film production workshop in which they took on the roles of director, actor and writer, practicing every stage from scriptwriting to filming and editing to explore careers in media. On June 13, a humanities academy session titled "The Age of AI and Writing" will be held at the Jungnang District Public Information Library. Both programs draw on Jungnang-gu's facilities and were made possible through cooperation between the two districts.
Courses designed to build critical thinking and humanistic literacy will continue through June and July. On July 11, the University of Seoul will host "Modern Society and Taxation," a session exploring a major in tax studies, alongside a "Classical Reading Seminar" in which participants read and discuss original texts of old hangul novels.
During the main summer vacation period in July and August, the University of Seoul will offer a series of hands-on laboratory sessions using high-end research equipment — including clean benches and autoclaves. The sessions will cover the principles and applications of gene amplification (PCR), theory and experiments in AI chemistry, semiconductor circuit implementation and measurement instrument experiments, environmental and chemistry inquiry experiments, and plant tissue culture. At Sungkyunkwan University, students will study the concept of cybercrime through an introduction to digital forensics and explore career paths in the field.
Programs in the highly competitive medicine and healthcare track — a perennial focus of parental attention — are also well represented. At Kyung Hee University, faculty from the Korean medicine department will lead an acupuncture treatment experience and herbal medicine practicum, including making "gongjindan" herbal pills. Dong-A Pharmaceutical will host a medicine and pharmacy career exploration session that includes a laboratory site visit. At Sahmyook Health University, students can take part in an AI-based medical data disease prediction project, simulation-based clinical nursing practice, and digital oral anatomy and 3D practicum — all part of a specialized program for training healthcare talent.
For students with global ambitions, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies will offer an international diplomacy program — "The World as Your Stage" — featuring a special lecture by a current international organization professional and a model UN General Assembly simulation. The University of Seoul will offer courses in statistical thinking and data science, and in exploring Korean language phenomena and grammatical principles, to develop humanistic literacy and analytical thinking. Additional practice-oriented courses include a humanities academy at the Dongdaemun-gu Information Library.
Students who complete 80 percent or more of a program's full curriculum may, with prior approval from their school principal, have their activities recorded in the extracurricular activity section of their school record. This is expected to give high school students preparing for rolling admissions and comprehensive school record-based university applications an ideal opportunity to demonstrate their suitability for their chosen major and their research capabilities.
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