75 Universities Consolidated over 25 Years: Competitiveness Up, but Restructuring Effects Short-Lived

Admission Competition and Freshman Enrollment Rates Rise
Adjunct Faculty and Number of Departments Decrease, Then Increase Again
"Need for Sound Management Beyond Simply Reducing the Number of Universities"

Over the past 25 years, there have been 37 instances of university mergers or consolidations, affecting a total of 75 universities. While competition for university admissions increased after these consolidations, the restructuring effects appear to have been short-lived.

On September 22, the Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI) held its fifth online press briefing, presenting on the theme "University Consolidations: What Has Changed?" The research team analyzed 37 cases of university consolidations involving 75 institutions, as recorded in public data from 2000 to this year. Of these, 27 cases were selected for in-depth analysis to examine pre- and post-merger changes. The findings showed that in 34 universities (17 campuses), two universities had been unified into a single entity (unification). Meanwhile, in 10 universities (20 campuses), the main campus and a second campus structure (bifurcation) were retained after the merger. Unification-type mergers were more common among private universities (76.5%), while bifurcation-type mergers were predominant among national and public universities (80%) and universities outside the capital region (75%).

Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI)

University consolidations were found to have improved competitiveness indicators. For example, the admission competition ratio increased by 1.66 points immediately after consolidation. This means that if the previous ratio was 2:1, it rose to 3.66:1. The freshman enrollment rate also rose by 2.51 percentage points, and the number of international students increased by approximately 99 following the consolidation. The number of international students continued to grow by an average of 35 per year thereafter.

The effect of a reduction in university scale was also observed. Immediately after consolidation, admission quotas were reduced by 457, and the number of current students decreased by 827. In particular, admission quotas continued to decrease by 17 per year after consolidation, indicating a long-term trend toward downsizing. The research team explained that these results align with the objectives of the consolidation policy, which aims to improve operational efficiency and prepare for declining school-age populations by reducing university scale.

On the other hand, the internal restructuring effect did not last long. Although the number of adjunct faculty members fell by 130 and the number of academic departments decreased by 11 immediately after consolidation, both numbers then began to rise again. Specifically, the number of departments has since increased by an average of 0.68 per year. There were no significant changes in the number of tenured faculty or administrative staff immediately after consolidation.

Tae Kyung Kim, Associate Research Fellow, stated, "University consolidation policies should not only focus on reducing the number of institutions, but also on enhancing the quality of university operations and improving sustainability through specialization."

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