Hundreds under probe for potential admission fraud

By Na Jeong-ju

The education ministry said Wednesday it’s looking into an allegation that hundreds of students entered prestigious universities on admission allotments for those from farming and fishing villages although they were not qualified.

Universities must admit students who attended schools located in rural and fishing areas under the ministry’s policy of addressing the educational gap between big cities and provincial communities. The students from such areas usually account for less than 5 percent of the enrollment quota. Last year, some 15,000 students entered four-year universities under the special admission system.

The state auditor, however, revealed that many schools have bypassed or violated relevant rules to accept unqualified students. They include Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University.

“To be qualified for those admissions, the applicants must prove that they have lived together with their parents. However, many students were found to have lived separately from their parents,” a ministry official said. “The number of potential violators among those who benefited the system from 2009 to 2011 is estimated at 400.”

The official said admissions will be nullified if they were found to fall in this category.

Such admission fraud deprives students with legitimate talent from farming and fishing villages the chance to study at universities, he said.