KAIST drew 8,394 applicants for early admission to its undergraduate program for the 2027 academic year, up 20% from a year earlier, after the university opened a new AI college to meet rising demand for artificial intelligence talent. The sharp increase pushed the overall competition ratio to 9.70 applicants per seat from 8.5-to-1 a year earlier.
A total of 8,394 students applied for about 865 seats in the early admission round for the 2027 academic year, KAIST said on Sept. 16. That is 1,403 more applicants, or a 20.1% increase, than the 6,991 recorded a year earlier. Compared with 6,500 applicants for the 2025 academic year, the figure has risen 29.1% in two years. Over the same period, the number of seats expanded from 815 to 825 and then to about 865, while the competition ratio climbed steadily from 8.0-to-1 to 8.5-to-1 and 9.70-to-1.
This year the university expanded its undergraduate intake alongside the creation of the AI college, set up to train specialists in the field. KAIST has been strengthening AI education and research and increasing the number of students it trains in the area in response to fast-growing demand. Even with the larger intake, applications rose at a faster pace, lifting the competition ratio above last year's level.
By admission track, the creative challenge track showed the steepest rise in applicants. The university raised the number of seats by 35%, to about 270 from 200 a year earlier, but applications rose 44.2%, to 2,724 from 1,889. The competition ratio increased to 10.09-to-1 from 9.4-to-1. The principal recommendation track posted the highest competition ratio at 17.81-to-1, with 1,514 students applying for about 85 seats.
The general track, which selects the largest number of students, drew 3,204 applicants for about 380 seats, a ratio of 8.43-to-1. Applications rose 19.8% from 2,675 a year earlier. The equal opportunity track drew 480 applicants for about 60 seats, and the special talent track drew 287 applicants for about 30 seats.
KAIST admits freshmen without assigning them to a department, letting them sample a range of science and engineering fields before choosing a major based on their interests and aptitude. Students can also explore career paths through laboratory experience, entrepreneurship and global programs. The university said growing interest in AI and other advanced science and technology fields, together with an approach that does not lock students into a single major at admission, appears to have contributed to the increase in applications.
"What stands out in these results is not simply that the competition ratio has risen, but that more students are applying who want to take on a variety of science and technology fields rather than limiting their potential to one area," the head of KAIST's admissions office said. "We will further broaden educational options so that students can experience diverse fields and discover what they can do best."
