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Facing a steep decline in the school-age population, universities in Korea, particularly in provincial areas, are increasingly shutting down departments and majors due to difficulties in recruiting new students, according to school officials and experts, Monday.

A number of universities are exploring survival strategies, such as introducing new departments or majors with high demand or merging existing majors.

According to a future population estimate by Statistics Korea, the school-age population, aged 6 to 21, has dropped to 7.15 million this year, accounting for just 13.8 percent of the total population.

The number declined steadily from 1984 when the school-age demographic stood at 13.84 million, or 34.3 percent of the total population. It is predicted that the figure will plummet further to 3.77 million, or 8.9 percent of the population, by 2060.

The impact is already evident in higher education. As of April, the number of students enrolled in universities and graduate schools fell to 3 million, a sharp 18 percent decline over the past decade.

Amid shrinking enrollment driven by a declining school-age population, universities are adopting measures such as merging departments and majors or shutting them down entirely.

Daegu University will no longer recruit freshmen for its sociology department starting in 2025, as part of a revised school policy.

In response to the announcement, students and professors organized a funeral-themed memorial event for two days from Nov. 7 to mark the department's closure after 45 years since the university's establishment in 1979.

"The event commemorates the end of the sociology department while emphasizing that its value and legacy endure even after its closure," a staffer from the department said.

Participants, including students, professors and faculty members, dressed in black, signed a guest book and laid flowers, mimicking funerary rituals. Wreaths from other universities' sociology departments, including Sogang University and Pusan National University, were also placed at the site.

Daegu University's decision illustrates a broader trend of declining enrollment rates leading to department closures.

This year, only 14 students enrolled in the university's sociology department, falling far short of its capacity of 31 students.

Sociology is among six departments at Daegu University — including law, electronic engineering and artificial intelligence (AI) — that will stop recruiting students next year, effectively phasing them out.

Students lay flowers at a memorial space adorned with sociology textbooks during a funeral-themed memoral event following the closure of Daegu University's sociology department at Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, Nov. 8. Yonhap

Pusan National University has announced plans to gradually close its French and German education departments, part of the College of Education, citing shifting demographics and changing academic demands.

"With the declining school-age population and changing language needs in the AI era, we decided to phase out these departments as part of an academic restructuring effort," an official from Pusan National University said.

The university noted that students who want to have careers in teaching French or German still have pathways through related departments in the College of Humanities, such as French Literature and German Literature, by completing teaching certification programs.

Some institutions are shutting down entirely due to not only declining enrollment but also financial difficulties.

Kangwon Tourism College voluntarily closed its doors in February, marking the second junior college to shut down since Daegu Future College in 2018.

Following the closure, special transfer procedures were arranged for enrolled students to continue their studies at Gangdong University and Gangneung Yeongdong University.

Amid an enrollment crisis, universities are also seeking solutions by creating high-demand majors or merging existing ones.

In 2023, Wonkwang University launched new departments, including the Department of Emergency Rescue, the Department of Railway System Engineering and the Department of Game Content, to attract freshmen.

Kyung-in Women's University has decided to introduce a Department of Dental Hygiene and a Department of Pet Industry, with recruitment for these departments already underway.

"At local universities, these structural reforms are part of a survival strategy to secure student resources," said Park Joo-ho, a professor at Hanyang University's Department of Education.

He explained that not all universities can sustain every department indefinitely, so it is reasonable to scale back programs with low demand.

"However, since every major has educational value, the government should step in to support and preserve them at a sustainable level," Park said.