From now, undergraduate students can apply for a double major or a minor regardless of their academic credits acquired.

Over the last two years, the Undergraduate Student Council (USC), during its regular meetings with the president of KAIST known as “A Talk with the President”, has advocated changes for the credits restriction for double major and minor applications, following growing demands from the students. The credits restriction for the major application policy does not allow students who have accrued more than 102 academic credits to apply for a double major or a minor. A related tuition exemption policy waives tuition fees for students who have applied for a double major or a minor for extended one or two semesters, respectively. The USC had been constantly communicating with the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) to inquire about the progress in its stance on the policy.

In 2017, students asked for a reformation in the credits restriction policy, and the USC presented the opinion to the president during their meeting. However, the school decided not to amend the policy that year, deeming the restrictions necessary. The original premise of the policy, according to a source who chose to remain anonymous, was that it would encourage students to plan their own curricula meticulously early in academic years. Last year, the USC again requested the school amend the policy. This time, the OAA has reviewed the USC’s request and concluded this restriction had caused too many problems for students. Common problems included situations in which students who found their interests at a later stage in their academic career could pursue neither a double major nor a minor, let alone receive tuition fee exemptions. After the assessment, the OAA shifted its stance and became open to the amendment to the policy.

The OAA then drafted and presented a bill insisting abolishment of the policy at a Curriculum Deliberation Committee (CDC) session and the committee concluded the bill beneficial. Some members from the USC partook in the CDC session, where a school law requires at least one student representative to be present. It is unclear whether the committee called for a session to confer this particular bill. Following the session, the CDC commissioned the Legal Affairs Team to assess legal implications of the amendment to the policy. Finally, at a KAIST Rules Committee session, where members introduced the new bill with its legal assessments, the committee has made a final approval on the bill, and consequently it has been signed by the president of KAIST. The USC announced the passing of the bill on January 3. The amended policy came into effect on January 21.

Some students who could have received tuition exemption from the school had the amendment been made earlier have filed complaints against the USC, who has since made inquiries to the Academic Planning Team about the availability of applications for such students to tuition exemption. On January 28, after a meeting between the USC and Academic Registrar’s Team, the USC announced, “The team answered, ‘The matter is out of the scope of the amendment, so it is unavailable [for such students to apply for a tuition exemption].’”