A Study on the College Choice Experiences of Regional University Students: A Case of Students at Flagship National University ‘C University’

This study aims to understand the college choice experiences of students who chose regional universities not as the outcome of a purely rational decision, but as a complex process of practice shaped within a socio-structural context. To this end, in-depth interviews were conducted with five undergraduate students enrolled at a regional flagship national university located in D Metropolitan City, and the college choice process was analyzed by applying Iloh’s (2019) Time–Information– Opportunity interaction model. The findings show that participants’ college choice involved a process in which available options narrowed and goals were reconfigured under constrained time conditions. In particular, academic performance, the burden of taking an additional year to retake the entrance examination, financial circumstances, and the admissions timetable functioned as pressures within temporal constraints, limiting both the mode and scope of information seeking. Information, in turn, operated as a mediator that delineated the range of opportunities perceived as feasible. As a result, universities in the Seoul metropolitan area were gradually excluded from consideration, while the regional flagship national university was reinterpreted as a realistically attainable opportunity under conditions such as the possibility of commuting from home, reduced financial burden, and local reputation. By demonstrating that choosing a regional university in South Korea is not merely the result of an individual’s rational decision but a practical process constituted through the interaction of time, information, and opportunity, this study contributes to expanding discussions on regional universities toward a processual and relational perspective.