Which majors do worldwide college students select most in Korea?

Worldwide college students attempt conventional calligraphy throughout a scholar membership truthful at Ajou College in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Sept. 2, 2025. Newsis

The worldwide Hallyu wave, fueled by the recognition of Okay-pop and Okay-dramas, has helped put Korea on the worldwide schooling map. Nevertheless, social sciences, not pop-culture, have emerged as the most well-liked majors amongst worldwide college students.

In accordance with the 2025 Survey on Immigrants’ Residing Circumstances and Labor Pressure, social sciences excluding Korean research ranked as the commonest main amongst international residents on scholar visas, accounting for 29.3 % of the whole as of Might final 12 months.

Korean research ranked second at 17.8 %, adopted by the Korean language at 16.6 % and engineering at 15 %. Engineering noticed a notable enhance of three.3 proportion factors from Might 2023.

In distinction, enrollment in humanities and humanities declined by 3.2 proportion factors, with their mixed share falling from 17.2 % in 2023 to 14 % in 2025.

The perceived high quality of Korea’s educational applications was the highest purpose worldwide college students selected to check within the nation, cited by 34 % of respondents, based on authorities knowledge. It was adopted by alignment between Korean majors and college students’ educational pursuits, at 20.5 %, and the assumption that levels from Korean establishments enhance job prospects, at 10.1 %.

The share of scholars citing the energy of educational applications rose by 4.0 proportion factors from 30 % in 2023, whereas those that mentioned they got here to Korea primarily to check Korea-related topics declined from 21.9 % to twenty.5 % over the identical interval.

The findings run counter to the widespread notion that the worldwide growth in Okay-content is the primary driver of curiosity in finding out in Korea.

A separate survey performed in September 2025 by software program firm Orangesquare discovered that seven out of 10 worldwide college students named studying the Korean language as their main motivation, whereas the remaining mentioned they had been motivated by the affect of Hallyu.

Nevertheless, official knowledge launched by the federal government means that educational high quality, fairly than cultural attraction, performs a extra decisive function in shaping worldwide college students’ selections to check in Korea.

Training Minister Choi Kyo-jin, second from left, briefs President Lee Jae-myung throughout a coverage report on the Authorities Sejong Conference Heart in Sejong, Dec. 12, 2025. Yonhap

The rise in science and engineering majors seems to mirror the impression of presidency insurance policies geared toward attracting college students in high-tech fields.

Final 12 months, the federal government expanded consumption for the science and engineering observe underneath the International Korea Scholarship program, inserting larger emphasis on recruiting future leaders in superior and rising industries.

Because of this, the variety of GKS-funded worldwide college students pursuing grasp’s and doctoral levels in science and engineering elevated to 2,126 in 2025, up from 1,864 a 12 months earlier.

Moreover, the federal government plans to lift the share of science and engineering college students amongst GKS-funded grasp’s and doctoral candidates to 45 % by 2027, based on the Ministry of Training’s coverage briefing in December final 12 months.

The proportion of science and engineering college students stood at 39.2 % in 2024, with 1,864 out of 4,760 GKS graduate college students enrolled in these fields, and surpassed 40 % final 12 months.

The schooling ministry goals to lift the share to 43 % this 12 months, or about 2,500 college students, and to 45 %, or roughly 2,700 college students, by 2027, successfully making science and engineering college students almost half of all GKS-funded graduate college students.

The coverage shift comes as Korea faces a steadily shrinking inhabitants as a consequence of its low delivery fee, heightening the necessity to safe international college students and labor in superior fields corresponding to synthetic intelligence.

Regardless of these coverage targets, the quantity stays comparatively small in comparison with the general worldwide scholar inhabitants.