Regional students shun Seoul universities in favor of local campuses

Students outside the greater Seoul area are showing a growing preference for universities in their own regions over those in the capital, new analysis shows. The share applying to regional national universities has risen for three consecutive years, pointing to a stronger "local settlement" trend in this year's early admissions cycle.

College admissions platform Jinhaksa released findings Friday based on users of its simulated application and admission-prediction service, showing that for the 2027 academic year, six of eight non-metropolitan regions recorded simulated application rates to Seoul-area universities below 50%. Only Gangwon Province (54.8%) and Jeju (54.3%) remained above that threshold.

Conversely, the share of students applying to universities within their own high school region rose in most areas. Among students from Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, 75.3% submitted simulated applications to universities in that region, while the figure reached 76.4% for those from Busan and South Gyeongsang Province.

Some regions saw the preference outright flip. In Gangwon Province, the share applying to Seoul-area universities stood at 57.4% for the 2026 academic year — higher than the 47.9% who applied locally — but for 2027, local applications rose to 57.0%, surpassing the Seoul-area rate of 54.8%.

North Chungcheong Province followed a similar pattern. Last year, 51.5% of students there applied to Seoul-area universities against 49.4% for local institutions, but this year those figures reversed to 48.3% and 52.1%, respectively.

Woo Yeon-cheol, head of the admissions strategy research institute at Jinhaksa, said the trend marks a clear break from the past. "Previously, the share of students from outside Seoul applying to Seoul-area universities had been gradually increasing, whether in early or regular admissions, but the pattern shifted considerably starting with last year's regular admissions cycle," he said. "We can say students are now noticeably more inclined to settle in their own region than before."

The local-settlement trend is also reflected in rising applications to national universities. Among all simulated applications tracked by Jinhaksa, the share directed at national universities — including regional hub national universities and other public institutions — rose for three consecutive years: 18.2% for the 2025 academic year, 19.9% for 2026 and 21.6% for 2027.

The gains were even steeper at some institutions. Kangwon National University's simulated application share climbed from 1.5% last year to 2.1% this year, while Gongju National University rose from 0.7% to 1.1% over the same period.

Woo said the two trends are closely linked. "The rise in local settlement and the increase in national university applications can be seen in the same light," he said. "If tuition support policies for regional national universities are added on top of this, there is a possibility that the share applying to regional national universities this year could be higher than in any previous year."