Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) recorded a sharp rise in early admissions, surpassing 30,000 applicants for the 2027 academic year early admissions. JBNU announced that, after the completion of early admissions applications for the 2027 academic year, 30,641 applicants applied for 3,507 openings, resulting in a final competition ratio of 8.74 to 1. This is an increase of 5,829 applicants, or 23.5%, compared with last year’s 24,812. Although the number of openings increased by 206 compared with the previous year, the growth in applicants far exceeded this, and the competition ratio rose from 7.52 to 1 last year to 8.74 to 1.

JBNU's early admissions applicants increased for three consecutive years: 23,962 for the 2025 academic year, 24,812 for 2026, and 30,641 for 2027. In particular, this year saw an increase of more than 5,800 applicants in a single year, which observers interpret as applicants translating their expectations of JBNU's educational competitiveness and future growth potential into applications.

This result is particularly notable because, regardless of whether the university was selected under the government's 'Make 10 Seoul National University' initiative, JBNU has demonstrated competitiveness through applicants' actual choices. JBNU recorded the highest applicant growth rate even compared with Pusan National University, Chungnam National University, and Chonnam National University, which were selected for the program.

JBNU's applicant growth rate was 23.49%, surpassing Pusan National University's 18.95%, Chungnam National University's 8.58%, and Chonnam National University's 5.08%. This is 4.54 percentage points higher than Pusan National University, 14.91 percentage points higher than Chungnam National University, and 18.41 percentage points higher than Chonnam National University. This suggests that applicants' evaluations of the university's curriculum, department competitiveness, and career prospects translated into actual applications, rather than expectations of policy support from being selected for the program. JBNU's rate is twice as high as the average increase of 11.6% for the three universities selected under the 'Make 10 Seoul National University' initiative.

Moreover, even taking into account that applicants to provincial national universities have increased due to measures such as zero tuition policies, the increase in applicants to JBNU is very large. JBNU's applicant growth rate is 1.9 times higher than the 12.6% increase for provincial national universities.

By region, applications from students in the Jeonbuk region increased by 20.7% year on year, while applications from the Seoul metropolitan area increased by 39.8%.

As a result of the sharp increase in applicants, JBNU's competition-ratio ranking also rose. JBNU moved up from fifth to fourth among regional flagship national universities in terms of competition ratio. This indicates that JBNU is simultaneously strengthening its status as a regional flagship national university and its preference among college applicants.

Preferences for future industries and self-directed fields were also clear. The Department of Secondary Battery Engineering recorded an overall competition ratio of 24.04 to 1, up markedly from 7.79 to 1 the previous year. Faculty of Convergence Autonomous Major 2 recorded 44.80 to 1, and the School of International Engineering and Sciences recorded 12.09 to 1.

JBNU President Yang O-bong said, "Although JBNU was not selected for the 'Make 10 Seoul National University' initiative, the fact that it recorded a higher increase in early admissions applicants than major selected universities reflects applicants' direct response to the university's efforts to strengthen recruitment of outstanding talent, its high rankings in various evaluations such as national university development programs, and its practical educational competitiveness and future vision," adding, "We will accelerate educational and research innovation as a glocal regional flagship university that grows together with the region."

JBNU will announce the first-stage successful candidates for the Comprehensive Student Record Selection on November 20, and, after interviews and other procedures, will announce the initial successful candidates at 2:00 p.m. on December 18. The final competition ratio may change slightly depending on the results of searches for applicants who violated application rules.