The number of students who dropped out of South Korea's four science and technology institutes fell to a five-year low last year, a trend some analysts attribute to rising interest in science and engineering fields amid a semiconductor boom slowing the outflow of students to medical schools.
According to an analysis by Jongno Academy released on the 19th, 241 students left the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) last year, down 3.6% from a year earlier. The figure has declined for three consecutive years, from 295 in 2022 to 288 in 2023, 250 in 2024 and 241 last year.
KAIST posted the largest drop. The institute recorded 91 dropouts last year, seven fewer than a year earlier, while UNIST reported 84, down six over the same period. Applications for early admission, meanwhile, rose. A total of 33,349 students applied to the four institutes through early admission for the 2027 academic year, an increase of 8,926 from the previous year.
Science high schools and schools for the gifted also saw fewer students drop out. Fifteen first-year students left the country's 20 science high schools and seven schools for the gifted last year, the smallest number in five years.
Applications to those schools also increased. A total of 9,626 students applied through the general admission track for the 2027 academic year, up 952 from a year earlier. Some analysts noted, however, that the increase in applications reflected a larger intake, as two new schools — Bucheon Science High School and Bundang Central Science High School — opened for the 2027 academic year.
"Given that dropouts at the science and technology institutes and at science and gifted high schools are falling while applications are rising, the outflow of science and engineering talent driven by a preference for medical schools appears to have slowed," said Lim Sung-ho, head of Jongno Academy. "It is necessary to look comprehensively at the regional physician system, overlapping acceptances in early admission and the situation in regular admissions."