According to the Ministry of Education and Training, nearly 467,600 of more than 874,800 university applicants have registered for STEM majors in the 2026 admissions cycle, accounting for 53.45% of all candidates.
Applicants submitted nearly 2.37 million STEM-related preferences, representing about one-third of all university applications.
The ministry said on July 15 that computer science and information technology were the most popular STEM fields, attracting more than 154,000 applications, followed by the natural sciences with over 43,700.
It is the first time the ministry has released detailed data on STEM applications.
Education experts said the surge reflects a shift in students' career choices after years in which economics and social sciences typically attracted a larger share of applicants.
