Returning Students Finding it Hard to Get into Universities

Since the International Monetary Fund(IMF) bailout and a serious economic crisis beset Korea late last year, lots of Korean students studying abroad have been returning to Korea because they no longer could afford it. This is causing a very strict competition for entrance into domestic colleges as the number of special cases among those students coming from foreign countries increases. Koreans who attend foreign high schools and junior colleges write a different entrance exam than domestic high school graduates.
In Seoul's 12 colleges the average ratio of foreign educated applicants to acceptance is 6.2 to 1 this year, which is much higher than the 3.8 to 1, recorded last year.
According to Sehan Academy, in the case of Seoul National University, 275 candidates were competing for 30 entrance spots for a 9.3-1 ratio.
Most of the other universities were also over the rate of 5 applicants to 1 acceptance.