Over 10,000 students dropped out of Seoul's top 3 universities in 5 years, many to pursue medical school

More than 10,000 students dropped out of Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University over the past five years, data showed Sunday.

An analysis of university disclosure data by Jongno Hagwon found that a combined 10,736 students left the three schools between 2021 and last year.

The annual figure rose consistently from 1,971 in 2021 to 2,131 in 2022 and 2,126 in 2023, before climbing to 2,496 in 2024. Last year the count came in at 2,012, marking the fourth consecutive year it exceeded 2,000.

Among last year's dropouts, Korea University recorded the highest number at 836, followed by Yonsei University with 801 and Seoul National University with 375.

Breaking down last year's departures by natural-sciences department at Seoul National University, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the School of Convergence Science and Technology each saw 26 dropouts, while the School of Biological Sciences recorded 18.

At Yonsei University, 132 students left engineering programs, 45 left natural-sciences programs and 36 left life-systems programs. At Korea University, the figures were 44 from the Department of Life Sciences, 43 from the Department of Biotechnology and 36 from the School of Electrical Engineering.

In the humanities, Seoul National University saw 11 dropouts from the College of Liberal Studies, eight from the Department of Business Administration and four from the Department of Economics.

At Yonsei University, 38 left the Underwood International College, 31 left the Global Talent College and 25 left business programs. At Korea University, 48 left the Department of Business Administration, 24 left the Department of Economics and 17 left the School of Media and Communication.

Of the three universities' combined dropouts last year, 64.5 percent — 1,297 students — came from natural-sciences programs, while 32.5 percent (654 students) were from humanities programs and 3.0 percent (61 students) from arts and physical education programs.

The share of natural-sciences students among total dropouts has remained high each year, at 65.1 percent in 2022, 62.1 percent in 2023 and 59.9 percent in 2024.

Jongno Hagwon said it believes students leaving natural-sciences programs at Yonsei University and Korea University are re-enrolling at Seoul National University or medical schools, while those leaving Seoul National University's natural-sciences programs are largely re-entering medical schools.

The introduction of a regional physician program in the 2027 academic year will expand medical school enrollment quotas, analysts say, and could push dropout numbers higher.

"Students from regional areas enrolled at Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University may increasingly re-enroll at regional medical schools," said Lim Sung-ho, head of Jongno Hagwon. "The number of dropouts from the three universities could rise somewhat compared to last year."