The Council’s Office of Admissions Support plays a critical role in the university admissions system of Korea, managing and coordinating various programs and services that aid both member institutions and students. Its work includes setting basic admissions guidelines, coordinating of the Teacher’s for Admissions Counseling program, coordinating the admissions officer system, administrating of the University-Level Program, and convening admissions information fairs.

The establishment of basic guidelines for university admissions is a critical function of the Council and its Commission on University Admissions and has legal foundations in the Enforcement Ordinance of the Higher Education Act of Korea. Universities are required by the above legislation to conform to these guidelines, which include standards on general admissions principles, recruitment timeframes, admissions schedules, notification and enrollment of applicants, admissions criteria, admissions categories (for example, general or special admissions), and submission of admissions information by individual universities.

Teacher’s for Admissions Counseling is a program coordinated by the Council to promote in public education institutions a tradition of student counseling and coaching regarding university preparation. Secondary school teachers specializing in counseling are organized into groups by region to participate in the development of university counseling programs, counsel students through the Council’s Admissions Information Portal Site and admissions information fairs, and contribute to admissions-related gatherings held by independent organizations and city/provincial education offices.

The Council also coordinates the admissions officer system in Korea’s universities. This system trains and employs professional admissions officers to select students liberally based on a variety of holistic characteristics of the student and the university. The goals of the system are to break from uniform admissions centered on test scores and move toward an admissions methodology that accounts for student potential, the university’s philosophy, recruitment grouping, and other diverse factors. The specific roles of the Council includes establishing basic admissions guidelines and standards, publicizing information on holistic admissions at member universities (available in Korean here), providing training for relevant staff at member universities, and distributing government funding that supports participating universities.

The University-Level Program is administered by the Council to give exceptional secondary students the opportunity to study in university courses and receive credit following university admission. It is similar to Advanced Placement in the United States, the International Baccalaureate (IB) in Europe, and the General Certificate of Education (GCE) A-Level in the United Kingdom.

The Council holds admissions information fairs twice a year, once in the summer for early-decision admissions and once in the winter for regular admissions. The goals of the fairs are to provide comprehensive, one-stop information on university admissions to prospective students, parents, and guidance counselors. They also provide an opportunity for universities to recruit new students and for students and parents to receive one-on-one counseling while curbing the commercialization of admissions information.