Why are university graduation albums fading away?

Universities are seeing decreasing demand for traditional graduation albums, with some like Kangwon National University and Sun Moon University ceasing their production altogether, as students prefer digital photos and personal photo shoots instead.

Pukyong National University students take a group photo that will be used in the university graduation album, on June 3, 2020. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

With August just around the corner and many university students set to graduate, soon-to-be graduates have a lot of boxes to check off.

From taking graduation album photos, completing a thesis or graduation exam and attending the graduation ceremony to finally receiving the university diploma, the list goes on and on.

However, taking photos for the university graduation album may soon disappear from the list.

Universities traditionally make graduation albums that feature individual portraits of the graduating class in their graduation gowns and caps, with students signing up to be part of the album and taking photos throughout the year. Albums are usually distributed once a year during the February graduation ceremony, featuring graduates of the two previous semesters.

Those set to graduate in August take photos with a studio that partners with the university around May and June, with February graduates taking photos around September and October the previous year.

Helping graduates cherish their memories, the graduation albums also include group photos of students and sometimes even photos of faculty members, pictures of different seasons on campus and key events held that year.

While graduation albums may be a special way for students to remember their university years, fewer students are signing up to be part of the album.

In some extreme cases, some universities even decide not to create albums at all.

A Konkuk University student takes a photo at her graduation ceremony held on Feb. 21. [YONHAP]

Less demand for big graduation albums

Despite the upcoming graduation season, Kangwon National University will not be printing graduation albums for its August graduates.

"Students who graduated in February did get their graduation albums made, but production of graduation albums for those who will graduate in August was canceled because too few students signed up to purchase them," said a spokesperson for the university.

While many universities create graduation albums once a year, Kangwon National University makes albums for each semester.

It's not the only school seeing less demand for graduation albums.

Sun Moon University also stopped creating graduation yearbooks starting from the 2024 academic year.

According to the university's announcement made last June, there was less demand as students graduated at different times due to some deferring graduation or taking semesters off. There was also a decrease in the popularity of physical albums, as many students are used to taking photos with their own cameras and keeping digital images.

For instance, only 19.6 to 26.7 percent of Sun Moon University's soon-to-be graduates bought graduation albums during the past five years. The school also saw around 100 students each year pay, but later ask for refunds as they changed their minds and didn't want to purchase albums.

Chungbuk National University stopped creating graduation albums starting from 2022, after only 253 out of the 2,800 graduates in 2021 actually purchased graduation albums.

Chung-Ang University graduates throw their graduation caps in the air during their graduation ceremony held on Feb. 19, 2024. [YONHAP]

Chung-Ang University still prints a big graduation album with all students, although the number of students purchasing them is falling.

"There were a bit less than 500 graduation albums sold last year, and the number of graduation albums sold is gradually decreasing over time," said a spokesperson for the university. "However, Chung-Ang University does plan to keep making graduation albums for as long as possible."

While graduation albums are a way to look back at familiar faces and close friends, they can sometimes feature photos of complete strangers, as many graduates graduate at a different time than their peers due to taking semesters off or deferring graduation.

According to Statistics Korea, 46.8 percent of 2,752 university graduates surveyed in 2024 said they took a semester or more off.

Of the respondents, 74.5 percent of male students said they took time off, as many do so for mandatory military service. Of the 1,135 male students who said they took time off, 93.6 percent said they did so to serve in the military. With multiple answers allowed, another 14.4 percent said they did so to prepare for certification exams or search for jobs. Another 4.6 percent did so for exchange semesters or internships.

For the remaining 1,617 female respondents, 51 percent took semesters off to prepare for certification exams or search for jobs. Another 26 percent did so for exchange semesters or to work as an intern.

Deferring graduation is also common, a choice many make to maintain student status while applying for jobs or specific internships that are only open to students.

According to the Ministry of Education, there were 17,939 bachelor's students who deferred graduation in 2024, which is up 17.4 percent year-on-year.

"All my friends were graduating at different times, and I just didn't see the point in taking photos for the university graduation album," said a 26-year-old surnamed Shin, who graduated from Yonsei University last year. "I deferred graduation, and was working as an intern during the semester before I actually graduated, and it was also hard to take a day off from work to come take photos at the campus."

Graduation album for one

While fewer universities are creating albums with the entire graduating class, this doesn't mean graduation albums are entirely gone.

It's still common to see notices on university websites or the student council's social media that announce details about graduation albums. However, those are slightly different from traditional graduation albums.

Rather than having an album that compiles photos of all graduates, many universities are creating albums for one or a small group of friends.

A photo uploaded to Sungkyunkwan University's general student council's Instagram shows different types of graduation albums students can choose from. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Starting from the 2025 academic year, Sungkyunkwan University announced it wouldn't be creating a big graduation album that includes photos of all graduates and key faculty.

Up until 2024, the university allowed students to either purchase a large graduation album with photos of all graduates, professors and the university president, or purchase a personal album with pictures of themselves.

Following the change, Sungkyunkwan University students can choose from three options: creating a personal graduation album that only has photos of themselves or a select group of friends, taking individual or group pictures with friends and just getting a digital file, or just purchasing a printed photo of themselves that comes in a frame.

Kyung Hee University also stopped creating albums with all graduates and faculty starting from the 2025 academic year.

Like Sungkyunkwan, the university is also focusing on creating personal graduation albums. The album will be just four pages long, including the individual student's graduation portrait and a few shots taken on campus.

Students who want a bigger album among friends in their department or student club can do so if they manage to gather 10 or more people, placing a custom group order.

Sogang University also creates solo or group albums within select friend groups, or allows students to obtain a digital file or a print photo in a frame.

Are there other ways students capture their graduation memories? Graduation albums may have lost some popularity, but students are still celebrating with photos.

Many students are taking more photos, but they're of different types.

Rather than sitting for a formal graduation portrait, some students now choose to hire personal photographers for customized photoshoots to upload on their social media.

Booking such photoshoots, which are referred to in Korean as graduation snaps, photographers will take photos with students around campus for around an hour or two and later provide edited photos. Prices vary based on the duration of the photoshoots and the number of photos provided, ranging from 70,000 won ($50) to 250,000 won.

Rather than students posing in front of a soft studio gradient background, the graduation snaps are usually taken at recognizable campus locations. For Seoul National University, its main gate, shaped like the Korean letter sha, is a popular choice. The Ewha Campus Complex of Ewha Womans University is a favorite for the university, and many students from Korea University pose near the main gate where they can use the main building as a backdrop.

A student takes a graduation photoshoot at Korea University's campus in Seongbuk District, northern Seoul [KIM EUN-SOO]

Kim Eun-soo, a photographer who runs MargotPic Studio located in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, has been taking photos of various graduates in the Seoul region.

"Demand for graduation photoshoots first started to grow because people couldn't have proper graduation ceremonies during the Covid-19 pandemic, but still wanted to have nice photos to remember the moment," said Kim. "Then, we had universities redesign their graduation gowns to reflect school colors and identity, which also brought up the demand to take photos in the new gowns."

"When I talk with other graduation photographers, they do say the demand for graduation photoshoots isn't as high as it used to be, but I think that's mainly because we now have more photographers that are doing the photoshoots. I think graduation photoshoots have really become a part of the graduation culture now."

Photo shoots shot using film cameras to give a vintage vibe have always been a favorite of students, with many also bringing along plush dolls of their university mascots to take photos with.

Apart from photoshoots on campus, Kim also sees a growing interest in casual photos taken at the studio.

One of the popular styles that graduates book is her so-called king-sized diploma photos, which she edits photos of graduates in front of an upsized diploma with the student's name and major.

A photo that photographer Kim Eun-soo takes, editing a graduate's diploma in the background [KIM EUN-SOO]

"While doing a graduation photoshoot on campus, I saw that the university had set up a photo wall that was shaped like a diploma," said Kim. "I thought it would be nice if students could take photos like that, but just with their own diploma, and started taking such photos."

"A lot of people reached out to me after seeing the sample photos I uploaded to Instagram, and I got a lot of positive responses saying the idea was good."

Apart from getting a professional photoshoot, some also go for an easier option: taking a photo at one of the many photo booths out on the streets for an affordable price of around 7,000 won.

While photos taken at the photo booths generally come out with a default frame, either in black or white, with a logo of the photo booth brand, companies have been making special graduation-themed frames to help people celebrate.

Life4Cuts' graduation frame released in February [LIFE4CUTS]

Photo booth brand Life4Cuts releases various seasonal photo booth frames, such as the cherry blossom, Christmas or summer-themed frames. A graduation-themed frame is also one of the regular designs the company releases, a tradition it has been doing every February since 2022.

For this year, the brand also released a graduation frame, designed to look like Instagram's question sticker layout, with speech bubbles that have congratulatory messages for graduates.

The photo frame was offered in February, and around 4,800 photos were printed using the frame.

"We plan to continue releasing the graduation frame in time for the February graduation season, and we are also considering releasing the frame around May to June and in time for the fall semester graduation season in August and September, as we are a global photo booth brand," said a spokesperson for Life4Cuts. "We will create more photo frames that are trendy and go beyond the traditional graduation frames."

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]