Five-year data shows high regional university dropout rate

National universities in the provinces have experienced a surge in student dropouts, with nearly 90,000 students leaving voluntarily over the past five years, South Korean government data showed on Wednesday 18 September, writes Jung Da-hyun for The Korea Times.

Despite efforts to establish regional hub universities to promote balanced development, the concentration of students in metropolitan areas like Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province persists. This trend has raised concerns that the migration of students to metropolitan areas could worsen the decline of remote regions, further driving fears of regional extinction.

The data the Ministry of Education submitted to Representative Kim Dai-sik of the ruling People Power Party reveals that from 2019 to 2023, the average number of dropouts at national universities in remote areas more than doubled that in the metropolitan area.
Full report on The Korea Times site