2 in 10 applicants say they raised regional national universities higher on their list

More than half knew about the policy but said it did not affect their decision

Parents review materials at a college admissions briefing session held at a hagwon in Gangnam, Seoul, on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Parents review materials at a college admissions briefing session held at a hagwon in Gangnam, Seoul, on Thursday. [Yonhap]

More than 4 in 10 applicants to regional national universities in the 2027 academic year's early admissions round said the government's tuition support policy influenced their application decisions, according to a survey released Wednesday. However, more than half said they were aware of the policy but that it had no effect on their choices.

The survey, conducted by college admissions platform Jinhaksa among 2,705 applicants in the 2027 early admissions cycle, found that 42.2 percent of the 1,511 respondents who applied to regional national universities said the tuition support policy affected their decision to apply or how they applied. The government had earlier announced it would cover tuition in full for all incoming freshmen at regional national universities starting in the 2027 academic year.

Among those who said the policy had an impact, the most common response — at 21.3 percent — was that it led them to give regional national universities higher priority in their applications. Another 11.8 percent said they had not originally planned to apply to such schools but did so because of the policy, while 9.1 percent said they applied to more regional national universities than they had initially planned.

Combined, those who either newly applied to regional national universities or expanded the number of such schools on their list as a result of the policy accounted for 20.9 percent of respondents.

In contrast, 54.1 percent said they knew about the policy but that it did not influence their application decisions. Only 3.7 percent said they were unaware of the tuition support policy altogether.

When asked why they applied to regional national universities, 58.9 percent cited their assessment that their grades gave them a realistic chance of admission — the top reason. Economic factors came second, with 49.0 percent saying the relatively lower burden of tuition and living costs was a factor. That was followed by career and employment prospects at 34.6 percent, and proximity to home or convenience of commuting and daily life at 33.6 percent. Some 19.4 percent said they expected the universities' competitiveness to improve under the government's policy to develop 10 universities comparable to Seoul National University.

Woo Yeon-cheol, head of the admissions strategy research institute at Jinhaksa, said the tuition support policy had demonstrably encouraged some applicants to apply to regional national universities for the first time or to expand the number of such schools on their lists. He cautioned, however, that the trend should not be attributed to policy alone. "The flow of applications to regional national universities needs to be understood as the result of multiple factors working together — including the likelihood of admission, financial burden, and career and employment outlook — rather than being explained solely by the policy's effect," he said.


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