The government has set the number of medical school admissions for next year at 4,695, up over 50 percent from 3,058 over the past 27 years.

Experts expected that the sharp increase in regional selection would also prompt many students in the greater Seoul area to move to provinces to enter regional medical schools.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE) announced the “Major Points of the Implementation Plan for Medical School Entrance Examination for 2025” and confirmed the number of freshman medical students for next year at 4,695, an increase of 1,582 from 3,113 this year.

According to education officials, the total comprises 4,565 students inside the quota, including 85 at CHA University, a medical graduate school, and 130 out-of-quota students.

For the 39 medical schools, excluding CHA University, 3,118 (67.6 percent) of 4,610 students will be selected through the rolling admissions process. In contrast, 1,492 (32.4 percent) will be selected through regular admissions, which only considers CSAT scores. Of the 3,118 applicants through the rolling admissions process, 1,577 will be selected through the qualitative evaluation of student registers, 1,334 through the qualitative evaluation of student registers, and 178 through the essay.

Of the 4,610 applicants, 1,326 (28.8 percent) will be selected by medical schools in the Seoul metro region and 3,284 (71.2 percent) from medical schools in the rest of the country. Twenty-six medical schools outside the Seoul metro region will pick 1,913 students, or 41.4 percent, from among regional students.

It marks an increase of 888 students from the 1,025 students selected for the class of 2024. Of the 27 non-metropolitan medical schools, Dankook University College of Medicine was excluded from the regional talent selection because it is operated as a dual campus.

Of the 1,913 students selected through the regional talent priority system, 1,549 (81.0 percent) will be picked on a rolling basis, and 364 (19.0 percent) will be chosen on a regular test basis. Within the rolling admissions, 1,078 students will be selected through the quantitative evaluation of student registers, 449 through the qualitative evaluation of student registers, and 22 through the essay.

According to the Jongno Institute, Korea’s largest private academy, which analyzed the college admission plan, announced Thursday that the largest increase in the number of medical school freshmen picked by the regional talent priority system was in the Chungcheong area.

In the Chungcheong area, six medical schools recruited 170 students through the regional talent system for the 2024 academic year. However, the comparable number increased by 294 to 464 next year, a 2.7-fold increase. It was followed by the Daegu-North Gyeongsang area (from 174 to 357), Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang area (from 295 to 467), Jeolla area (from 303 to 443), Gangwon area (from 63 to 147), and Jeju area (from 20 to 35).

Admission experts predicted that the number of students moving from the greater Seoul area to these provinces to enter medical schools would intensify.

“Prioritizing regional talents for regional medical schools has a high base standard for the CSAT in virtually all universities. For example, the sum of the four sections of the CSAT must be five or six. Even if you rank first in your high school, meeting the CSAT base standard is difficult. As a result, the number of medical students from prestigious private high schools and general high schools in the region will increase,” Jongro Institute CEO Lim Sunhg-ho said.

Lim continued, “There is also a possibility that the Chungcheong area will attract interest among elementary school students in the Seoul metro region. Science and engineering students at top universities from rural high schools may apply for medical school, and students from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), those who study oriental medicine, and dental school students will likely apply for medical schools by repeating. Medical students from provincial areas may also apply to medical schools in the Seoul-Gyeonggi Province area.”