The semiconductor boom is spilling over into Korea's college admissions landscape. Contract programs in chip engineering at Yonsei University and Korea University have posted the highest early-admission GPA cutoffs since their launch in 2021.
Yonsei Subject-Based Admission Hits 1.14 GPA, Up Sharply from First Year
According to Jongro Academy on Wednesday, the System Semiconductor Engineering department at Yonsei University, a contract program with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), has seen its early-admission GPA cutoffs rise every year.
The school record-based (recommendation type) admission, newly introduced in 2024, rose from 1.47 GPA in its first year to 1.20 in 2025 and 1.14 in 2026. The comprehensive school record-based admission (activity-excellence type) started at 3.10 GPA in 2021 and, after fluctuating, climbed to 1.79 in 2026.
Averaging the two tracks, the 2026 cutoff stood at 1.47 GPA, a sharp narrowing of the gap from 3.10 GPA in the program's inaugural 2021 year.
Korea University's Department of Semiconductor Engineering, a contract program with SK hynix (000660.KS), has shown a similar trend. The comprehensive school record-based admission (academic excellence) cutoff rose from 2.40 GPA in 2021 to a record 1.47 in 2026. The comprehensive admission (field-fit type), however, registered only modest fluctuations, coming in at 3.88 GPA in 2026.
Averaging the two tracks, the 2026 cutoff stood at 2.68 GPA, also the highest since the program's launch.
Regular admissions are also trending upward. The 70% cutoff score for Korea University's semiconductor engineering department, based on the average percentile of Korean, math and inquiry subjects, rose steadily from 94.17 points in 2024 to 96.67 points in 2026. Yonsei University has yet to release its regular admission results.
460 Students to Be Admitted in 2027; "Top-Tier Interest Will Grow Further"
For the 2027 academic year, corporate-linked semiconductor contract programs will admit a combined 460 students.
Samsung Electronics contract programs will select 350 students across seven universities: 100 at Yonsei University, 70 at Sungkyunkwan University, 40 at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 40 at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 30 at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), 30 at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), and 40 at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). SK hynix contract programs will admit 110 students at three universities: 40 at Korea University, 30 at Sogang University, and 40 at Hanyang University.
"In the past, top-tier students showed the greatest interest in medical schools and Seoul National University's engineering programs, but now there is a notable degree of interest in semiconductor contract programs at Yonsei and Korea universities," said Lim Sung-ho, chief executive of Jongro Academy.
"For the 2027 academic year, we expect interest among top-tier students in medical schools as well as corporate contract programs at leading universities such as Yonsei and Korea to grow further," he added. "That said, volatility will be significant depending on the semiconductor cycle and the business performance of chip companies."
