South Korean universities are struggling to keep pace with China’s rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) education, hampered by government-imposed enrollment caps and rigid salary structures that hinder faculty recruitment.
As of Feb. 5, South Korea has 106 engineering programs at four-year universities that include “artificial intelligence” or “AI” in their names, collectively admitting 6,391 students annually, according to a national university admissions portal. However, education experts argue that many of these programs lack specialized AI training. Instead, most have merely integrated AI-related courses into existing engineering disciplines such as automotive technology, robotics, and semiconductors. Critics also point out that few faculty members in these programs have expertise in AI.
The challenge is particularly acute for universities in the Seoul metropolitan area, where major universities are concentrated, and strict regulations limit enrollment expansion. The Seoul Metropolitan Area Readjustment Planning Act caps the total number of undergraduate students at 117,145, making it difficult to increase admissions for AI programs without cutting seats from other departments—an unlikely move due to internal resistance. While Stanford University’s computer science program has grown from about 100 students two decades ago to roughly 800 today, Seoul National University’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering has been limited to 55 students for the past 20 years, only recently increasing its quota to 64.
To address the shortage of high-tech talent, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration has allowed universities in the Seoul area to expand enrollment in semiconductor, biotechnology, and AI programs by 1,300 students. However, only 205 of these slots were allocated to AI—far below demand. Even when AI departments are established, universities often struggle to hire faculty due to a severe talent shortage. Some institutions have been unable to offer courses because they could not recruit qualified instructors. The issue is compounded by rigid salary structures, as many universities still adhere to seniority-based pay systems that make it difficult to offer competitive salaries to AI specialists. One professor from an AI department established two years ago noted, “Even if we increase the quota, we won’t be able to hire enough professors due to low salaries.”
A broader reluctance to pursue careers in science and engineering has also contributed to the shortage of doctoral graduates. In China, the number of Ph.D. recipients in these fields surged from 62,578 in 2019 to 82,320 in 2022, while South Korea saw only a modest increase from 15,308 in 2019 to 18,714 in 2024.
In an effort to address the shortfall, the government increased graduate school enrollment quotas last year in advanced fields such as AI. Twelve universities, including Seoul National University, Sogang University, and Chung-Ang University, were allowed to expand 43 graduate programs. However, as of the 2024 academic year, only 73.6% of available seats had been filled.
