By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Seoul National University and dozens of other universities will expand the use of admission officers to recruit students.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Wednesday that the schools will admit at least 3,000 students next year under a state-supported ''admission officer'' system.

The ministry last year began subsidizing 10 universities for recruiting admission officers with two billion won ($2 million) and has selected 30 more schools for the program this year.

Universities are expected to spend 15.8 billion won on admissions officers this year.

While many schools rate applicants based on their College Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and scholastic records, the ministry is encouraging universities to use student potential and talent rather than just academic scores.

``Universities could introduce a more advanced recruitment system with admissions officers and overcome their old practice of evaluating students with a uniform yardstick,'' ministry official Hwang Hong-kyu told reporters at the Central Government Complex in Seoul.

``The admissions officers will focus on selecting well-rounded students, and we will expand it to the regular admission process when the system is settled well and gains public consensus.''

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr