Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University, the so-called "SKY" universities, failed to fill 61 freshman seats during last year's admissions, data showed. With the expansion of medical school quotas for the 2025 academic year admissions, the outflow appears to have been larger.
Jongno Academy said on the 8th that an analysis of the 2025 academic year University Alimi disclosure data on unfilled freshman seats showed this result. During the 2025 academic year admissions, 41 departments at SKY universities failed to fill 61 seats, about three times the five-year unfilled total (21).
Korea University failed to fill 43 freshman seats across 25 departments. Seoul National University had 13 unfilled seats in 12 departments, and Yonsei University had 5 unfilled seats in 4 departments.
Jongno Academy projected that once the integrated liberal arts and natural sciences system is fully implemented starting with the 2028 academic year admissions, the number of unfilled freshman seats at SKY universities could increase further.
Lim Seong-ho, head of Jongno Academy, said, "Under the integrated CSAT system for liberal arts and natural sciences, the unfilled seats centered on the natural sciences could spread to humanities departments," and noted, "If the expansion of medical school quotas and rising preference for medical schools due to the introduction of a regional physician system coincide with a declining school-age population, unfilled seats could increase even at SKY."