Widening Gap in College Admission and Improving Equal Opportunity in South Korea

Abstract

As private education has become widespread over the last decade in South Korea, the education gap among regions and social classes has noticeably widened. The recent global financial crisis exacerbates the problem as the rich continue to utilize more private education, while the poor utilize it less. For the first time, we confirm the widening gap in academic achievement and college admission in recent years by using source materials on Korea's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and students admitted to Seoul National University (SNU). We also present a simple theory that suggests that, as the influence of socioeconomic background and educational environment on the entrance exam score rises over that of innate talents, labour productivity of overall society appears to decline. Controlling for student talent by using the scholastic ranking of the second year of middle school, we show that the socioeconomic status and learning environment exert a considerable influence on all college admissions criteria in this country. Finally, we discuss the importance of voluntary efforts by universities for expanding equal opportunity in higher education, as well as the government's response to the growing gap in college admissions.