This year, medical schools will be filled with half of their students from non-capital areas... the highest ever.

This year's medical schools plan to admit half of their students from rural areas, marking the highest admission rate in history. On September 9th, the Korean Educational Development Institute analyzed the admission quotas of the 39 medical schools nationwide and found that 1,734 out of a total of 3,508 admitted students will be from rural areas, amounting to 49.4% of the total.

This represents an increase from the previous 27 provincial medical schools, which admitted 1,734 out of 2,490 students, or 69.6%. The rural medical schools' admission rate for rural students has been steadily increasing each year, rising from 38.0% in 2022 to 61.0% in 2026.

Starting from 2023, rural medical schools have been legally required to admit at least 40% of their incoming class from local high school and college graduates in their area and surrounding regions. Many universities have been exceeding this mandatory quota and admitting more students from the region. In addition, starting from 2026, Daegu University will introduce a new regional resident selection system for medical schools, further boosting the admission of rural students.

Meanwhile, the number of nationwide admission quotas for all 39 medical schools is gradually decreasing. In 2027, there will only be 1,752 nationwide admissions, which is 49.9% of the total. This is a drop from 74.6% in 2022 to 57.3% in 2025, and has fallen below 50% for the first time in 2026. Dr. Jeong-ho Lee, president of Gyeongju College of Medicine, stated that this year's medical school admissions will be the most challenging for students from Seoul, while those from rural areas will have an advantage due to the availability of regional and local resident selection programs.