Nearly half of all students seeking state scholarships while attending the country's three most prestigious universities, often dubbed the "SKY” universities, were found to be in the high-income bracket.

According to data from the Korea Student Aid Foundation obtained by ruling Democratic Party Rep. Kim Hoi-jae, 48-point-two percent of 34-thousand-646 applicants at the three universities came from families in the upper 20-percent bracket.

The "SKY" universities are Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University.

Those in the low-income bracket constituted 19-point-five percent of the application pool, while those considered middle-class made up 28-point-five percent.

The percentage of high-income bracket scholarship-seekers at “SKY” universities was around one-point-five times higher than the rate at nine national universities outside Seoul. Thirty-two-point-six percent were in the upper 20-percent bracket among applicants at the state schools.