The Ministry of Education (MOE) in South Korea has recently announced a new university financial support program. Under this initiative, universities will receive additional funding if they expand their quota for non-major admissions. Non-major admissions include two pathways: undeclared major admission, where students choose a major after being admitted, and affiliated college admission, where students select a major related to their specific affiliation. The purpose of this quota expansion is to allow students to enter university without immediately declaring a major, giving them the flexibility to explore various fields before making a final decision. 

Policy Expansion

This policy is outlined in the Basic Plan for the University Innovation Support Project and the National University Development Project, announced by the MOE in January of this year. The objective is to provide students with more opportunities to learn and offer greater flexibility in selecting their major. The MOE plans to increase the quota for non-major admissions to 20% for private universities and 25% for public universities by 2025. To encourage participation, the MOE stated that universities meeting this goal will receive the maximum credit of 10 points in their funding support evaluations. 

Given that universities can acquire additional millions of won for just one or two extra points, they are strongly incentivized to align with the MOE’s targets.

How Universities Responded

In response, various schools have increased the number of non-major admitted students. Kyung Hee University (KHU) has increased its total quota for undeclared students from 101 to 406 for next year. To accommodate more students, KHU recruited 165 students for the School of Global Eminence (SGE), up from 101 last year. Additionally, KHU established a new, yet-to-be-named department on the Global Campus to recruit 241 students. SGE students can only choose majors at the Seoul Campus, while those in the new department can choose majors at the Global Campus.

Korea University (KU) also increased its quota from 154 to 196 this year. Last year, KU recruited 154 undeclared students solely for the School of Interdisciplinary Studies (SIS). This year, however, KU recruited 95 students for SIS, 65 students through affiliated admission to the College of Engineering, and 36 students for the University College, a new college for non-major admission.

Hanyang University (HYU) has created a new college to meet the government’s goal. The newly established Hanyang Intercollege will admit 250 students for affiliated college admission in fields like literature and science. This marks the first time HYU is recruiting non-major students.

Context of Controversy

This policy has sparked debate due to concerns about "herd behavior," where students gravitate towards majors with better job prospects. Critics worry that expanding the quota could exacerbate this issue. Currently, herd behavior is already considered problematic in education. At Seoul National University, 47% of undeclared students chose engineering majors, and 24% opted for business administration. Similarly, at Korea University, 33.3% of undeclared students selected computer engineering, and another 33% chose business administration. At KHU, 28.6% of students chose the Global Leader major in SGE, while 21.4% selected Big Data Analytics. This data shows that many non-major students tend to concentrate in just one or two fields.

Past experiences also support these concerns. In the 1990s, universities expanded division admissions under a government initiative, allowing students to choose a major within their division after one year of exploration. However, the imbalance in major preferences worsened, and the policy was eventually abolished. Given this past failure, expanding non-major admissions should be managed carefully.

Other Problems

While the crowding issue has dominated media discussions, students have raised other concerns. Yang So-eun, a former SGE student now studying business administration, noted, “The required courses in SGE are mostly focused on law, limiting student choices. Furthermore, majors are restricted to fields like literature and natural sciences, leading some students to retake the college admission test to pursue other majors such as engineering.” These concerns highlight the need for the new policy to address practical issues.

Lee Do-hyeong, a physics student at KU, said, “Many students gravitate towards medical and engineering fields for better job prospects. Expanding non-major admissions may undermine the policy’s goal of ensuring autonomy in major selection and instead turn it into an admission strategy.”

Hong Je-beom, studying materials science and engineering at HYU, expressed concerns about coursework difficulties. “In engineering, there’s already a knowledge gap between students. Some students have taken similar courses in high school, while others struggle to close the gap in just a few semesters. Non-major students will need to put in extra effort to bridge this gap,” he said.

Why the Policy Still Matters

Despite these concerns, the policy’s objective aligns with student needs. Yang said, “Undeclared students often feel a lack of belonging, as they move to departments unrelated to their previous studies. Expanding the non-major quota could alleviate this issue.” 

Lee added, “I’m positive about the policy’s purpose. Many high school students in South Korea don’t have enough time to consider their future direction because they must follow the official curriculum. This policy seems to reflect an understanding of that.”

Hong shared, “Many students, including myself, choose their school and major based on their grades rather than their interests. After admission, they explore what they truly want to pursue. I believe this initiative could help them gain more experience and make better decisions.”

Efforts to expand the quota of non-major admissions have garnered significant attention due to both the positive intentions and the concerns raised, such as the herd behavior phenomenon, adjustment difficulties, and potential exploitation in admission strategies. However, the policy may help mitigate existing problems faced by students. Therefore, it’s essential to explore ways to achieve its primary objective: providing more opportunities for students to explore different majors.