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embers of the National Union of Education University Students (Gyodaeryeon) hold a memorial press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Seoul, on July 18 last year, marking the first anniversary of the Seoi Elementary School incident and calling for the establishment of stronger protections for teachers. / Source: National Union of Education University

As the social status of teachers continues to decline, education universities are seeing a sharp drop in popularity. In the 2025 academic year admissions, even students with a GPA in the 6th grade level were accepted through regular applications, and those with a GPA in the 7th grade level were admitted under special admissions for national veterans.

Jongro Academy released its analysis of the 2025 admissions results for five education universities — Seoul National University of Education, Chuncheon National University of Education, Cheongju National University of Education, Gwangju National University of Education, and Korea National University of Education — on April 27.

The regular admissions cutoff GPA for Seoul National University of Education fell to 2.10, down from 1.97 the previous year. For the comprehensive student record screening, the cutoff dropped to 2.45 from 1.99. Chuncheon National University of Education saw its regular admissions cutoff plummet from 4.73 to 6.15, and the cutoff for its Teacher Aptitude Talent Screening, which selects 101 students, dropped to 6.35.

Cheongju National University of Education also recorded a steady decline in its regular admissions cutoff: from 2.31 in 2023 to 2.92 in 2024, and further down to 3.44 in 2025. For its comprehensive admissions targeting local talents, the cutoff fell sharply to 4.07, compared to 2.44 in 2023 and 3.08 in 2024.

Despite a 10.3 percent reduction in the total number of admissions — from 1,402 students last year to 1,258 this year — due to plans to reduce the number of teachers, cutoff scores continued to fall. Seoul National University of Education reduced its admissions from 357 to 314 students; Chuncheon from 322 to 303; Korea National University of Education from 111 to 98; Gwangju from 326 to 289; and Cheongju from 286 to 254.

Meanwhile, the number of unfilled seats across 10 education universities nationwide has steadily increased each year — from 8 in the 2020 academic year, to 9 in 2021, 16 in 2022, 22 in 2023, and 23 in 2024.

Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, said, "The decline in cutoff scores for education universities in the 2025 admissions is very clear and the extent of the decline is growing. This trend reflects a decrease in preference for education universities not only among top students but also among mid-tier students." He added, "With GPA cutoffs dropping to the 6th and 7th grade levels and College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) scores falling into the mid-4th grade range, it is time to comprehensively reassess teacher-related policies."