The Ministry of Education noted on the 31st that having paid tuition does not necessarily mean that medical students have returned.
Spokesperson Gyu Yeon-hee stated on the 31st, "Nothing has been decided yet regarding the return rate of medical students or the number of medical students to be recruited."
This day is the deadline set by the Ministry of Education for medical students who are on leave or refusing attendance to return. Initially, the government planned to compile the return rates of medical students received from each medical school by this day to determine the number of medical students to be recruited for the next year.
Earlier, the government had announced on the 7th that it would revert the number of medical students for the 2026 academic year back to 3,058 based on the premise that all medical students would return.
However, there are projections that the Ministry of Education will delay the announcement of the number of medical students to be recruited for the next year.
Spokesperson Koo stated, "Universities are extending registration dates, and some have postponed the tuition payment deadline to April," adding, "The return rate may not be quickly tallied."
Spokesperson Koo further noted, "The overall trend seems to have shifted toward registration," and added, "It is true that a considerable number of medical students are indeed registering." However, he mentioned, "I understand that some universities have cases where no students have registered at all."