In the 2026 college admissions regular round, 144 test-takers who were accepted to corporate-sponsored departments at Yonsei University and Korea University declined to enroll. These departments guarantee employment after graduation at major corporations such as Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, and SK hynix.
According to Jongno Academy on the 22nd, the number of accepted applicants who declined to enroll in corporate-sponsored departments at Korea University and Yonsei University for the 2026 academic year totaled 144. That is up 39.8% from 103 last year.
By university, Yonsei University had 68 who declined to enroll in corporate-sponsored departments, a 51.1% increase from the previous year. Korea University saw 76 decline enrollment, up 31.0% from last year.
By corporations, 74 declined to enroll in the Samsung Electronics corporate-sponsored departments (Yonsei University Department of System Semiconductor Engineering and Korea University Department of Next-Generation Communications), up 39.6% from the previous year. In the SK hynix corporate-sponsored department (Korea University Department of Semiconductor Engineering), 37 declined to enroll, an increase of 76.2%.
In the Hyundai Motor corporate-sponsored department (Korea University School of Smart Mobility), 27 declined, up 3.8%, and in the LG Display corporate-sponsored department (Yonsei University Department of Display Convergence Engineering), 6 declined, double the previous year.
A significant number of those who declined to enroll in the corporate-sponsored departments appear to have gone on to natural sciences or medical and pharmaceutical tracks at Seoul National University. Among top-tier natural sciences test-takers, many reportedly apply simultaneously in the regular round to corporate-sponsored departments at Yonsei University and Korea University in the first group, natural sciences at Seoul National University in the second group, and medical, dental, and oriental medicine schools at other universities in the third group.