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Universities now factoring school violence in admissions decisions

Published: 27 Oct. 2025, 19:27

Kyungpook National University [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Kyungpook National University rejected 22 applicants with records of school violence for the 2025 academic year, the university said Monday.

Beginning this year, the university has factored school violence history into all of its college admissions tracks, applying point deductions based on the severity of disciplinary actions listed on applicants’ student records.

School violence sanctions in Korea are categorized into nine levels — from a written apology, to restrictions on contact or retaliation, school or community service, mandatory education or counseling, suspension, class reassignment, school transfer and finally expulsion. Kyungpook National University applied deductions of 10 points for the lowest-level sanctions, 50 points for intermediate cases and 150 points for the most severe.

As a result, 11 applicants were rejected from the academic excellence, local talent and general admissions tracks; three from the essay-based admissions track; one from the agricultural entrepreneurship talent track; and four from performance and athletic talent tracks. An additional three applicants were denied in the regular admissions process.

10 national universities of education across Korea also plan to reflect school violence history in their admissions beginning in 2026.

Among them, Seoul National University of Education, Busan National University of Education, Gyeongin National University of Education and Chinju National University of Education will disqualify applicants with any record of school violence, regardless of the level, across all admissions categories.

Other universities of education plan to deny eligibility only for serious offenses, while applying deductions for less severe cases.

Rep. Kang Kyung-sook of the Rebuilding Korea Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Education Committee, criticized the inconsistency across universities. “Some schools reflect school violence history only through qualitative assessments, regardless of the admissions track,” she said last Thursday. “There needs to be improvement in the way national universities apply these standards.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]