"Student ID Over Graduation Cap": Deferred Graduates Reluctant to Leave Campus

Fear of Resume Gaps Pushes Graduation to 4 Years and 6 Months
University Students: "Student Status Is Our Only Shield"
First Job Determines a Lifetime ... Prolonged Job Preparation

"I'm planning to defer graduation as much as possible until I get a job."

Lee Ji-won (23), a student at a private university in Seoul, has postponed graduating for two semesters. While preparing to join a media company, she maintains her student status by using the school's job study room and library. She said, "It's awkward when people who have already graduated ask me what I'm doing these days, but if I tell them I'm on a graduation deferral after completing eight semesters, they just accept it," adding, "For job seekers, deferring graduation acts as a kind of shield."

On the afternoon of the 28th, the student lounge at the Future Hall of Seoul City University in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, was filled with students studying for certifications and various exams, despite it being the vacation period. Around a large table, over a dozen students stared intently at their laptop screens. Some were moving their pens briskly across thick books, while others were listening to lectures. One student's table was piled with materials from a cram school for the certified tax accountant exam.

On the afternoon of the 28th, a student is moving a pen while placing a thick book on a book stand in the student lounge of the Mirae Hall at the University of Seoul in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jaehyun Park

The number of students who have fulfilled all graduation requirements yet remain enrolled as deferred graduates is increasing. The average time for young people to finish university is now four years and six months, the longest it has been since records began. This is interpreted as a defensive strategy to avoid gaps in resumes, as employers increasingly prefer experienced candidates and hire on a rolling basis.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics’ supplementary survey on the economically active youth population released on July 31, the average time taken for young university graduates—including those from four-year universities and junior colleges—to graduate was 4 years and 5.7 months, setting a record high since related statistics began in 2007. This represents an increase of 1.3 months compared to the previous year. The survey cites the growing trend of students taking leave from school to enhance their employment qualifications as a contributing factor. The proportion of students who took a leave of absence also reached an all-time high of 48.9%.

The biggest reason young people are delaying graduation is fear of having a gap period. On university campuses, it has become the norm to defer graduation for at least one year. According to a job market difficulty survey conducted by the recruitment platform Catch among 3,026 Generation Z job seekers (those born from the mid-1990s to early 2010s), 67% of respondents said the maximum gap period they would accept before employment was less than one year. This was followed by two years (23%), three years (7%), and four years or more (3%).

Shim (25), a student at a university in Daegu, said, "Because the job market is so tough, I'm afraid I'll be at a disadvantage if I have even a short gap period." Kim Ga-hee (25), a Seoul City University student preparing for the certified public accountant exam, said, "Even if I fail the exam, as long as I'm still a student, I can seek out other options."

The situation is also challenging for those who have left university. According to the supplementary youth survey, among the 1,243,000 young people who had graduated from their last school but not found a job, 48.6% had been unemployed for at least one year—the highest figure since the 2009 global financial crisis. The proportion who had been unemployed for more than three years hit a record high of 19.4%. One in four unemployed young people (25.3%) said they were "not looking for work and just spending time."

Jang Je-sung (30), a Hanyang University student, took a job at a small or medium-sized company right before graduation but could not endure the low pay and long hours that extended late into the night, so he quit after a few months. He repeatedly deferred graduation while preparing for a job at a public enterprise. Jang said, "After stepping out into society once and then returning to school, I did feel embarrassed," adding, "But as long as I study at the library as a student, I can at least comfort myself that I'm still in a phase of preparation."

Jae Sung Jang (30), preparing for a public enterprise job, wrote his resolutions in a notebook while studying for the employment exam at a university library in Seoul. Jang has been enrolled for seven years since entering university and has met all graduation requirements but postponed graduation to maintain his student status. Photo by Ho Su Park

Experts point to the dual structure of the labor market as the fundamental issue. They note that because it is structurally difficult to move from a small or medium-sized company to a major corporation after one's first job, many choose to defer graduation. Kim Jun-young, a research fellow at the Korea Employment Information Service, said, "Even if it means delaying employment, entering a higher-quality job is much more beneficial over the course of a lifetime." He added, "The expansion of rolling recruitment, the growing preference for experienced workers, and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) that is replacing low-skilled labor have jointly made the position of young workers even more precarious."

Kim Jeong-sik, emeritus professor in the Department of Economics at Yonsei University, noted, "In the past, getting your diploma as quickly as possible was a competitive advantage, but now many young people perceive it as riskier to graduate without a job lined up." He continued, "The fact that maintaining student status has become a kind of safety zone is evidence that the job market has shrunk that much." He added, "While graduation deferral may look like a personal choice, in reality, the structure of the labor market is what narrows the options."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.