GKS is one of the most famous fully-funded scholarships to study in Korea. Along with two undergraduate programs, there is an opportunity for prospective graduate students to be accepted for a degree or research.
Quick Facts
- Fully-funded scholarship with a monthly allowance
- The application period starts in Feb, and deadlines depend on embassies and universities
- You can apply for a master's, doctoral, or research program
The announcement about the undergraduate programs appears on the http://studyinkorea.go.kr , the only official GKS website in February on GKS Notice page.
Program Degrees
Master's Degree
- 1 year of Korean language program + 2 years of degree program
Doctoral Degree
- 1 year of Korean language program + 3 years of degree program
Research Program
- 6 months or 1 year
Available Universities
Universities in the scholarship are divided into Type A and Type B, as you can find in the undergraduate guidelines
Embassy Track
73 schools all over Korea for the embassy track are ready to review your application.
Embassy track applicants must choose three different desired universities, but the list must include at least one university from Type B.
University Track
The university tracks give you 73 universities divided into categories General, R-GKS, R&D, Research and Global Network.
R&D Program provides R&D-focused curriculum and field experience in research institutes and industries. In addition, the program is designed to attract and nurture talented scholars in the strategic high-tech industry and to be beneficial to the scholar‟s future career.
International Reconstruction Talent Program for Ukraine Applicants can choose General or R-GKS Program under the University Track.
Research Program applicants can apply to all universities on the list.
Available Fields of Study
- Education
- Engineering
- Engineering (AI)
- Entertainment & Sports
- Humanities
- Medicine
- Natural Science
- Social Science
Eligibility
Nationality
- Applicant and their parents should not hold Korean citizenship.
- For Overseas Korean applicants (Embassy Track) holding Japanese citizenship, if their parents have a "Permanent Residency Permit" within Japan while holding Korean citizenship, they are exceptionally eligible to apply.
- An applicant should be a citizen of one of the designated countries (check the list of counties).
Level of Education
Master's Program Applicant: Must hold a bachelor's degree or a level of education equivalent to or higher than a bachelor's degree.
Doctoral Program Applicant: Must hold a master's degree or a level of education equivalent to or higher than a master's degree.
Research Program Applicant: Must have received an invitation from one of the partner universities and must meet the criteria below;
- Postdoctoral Research Program: Must hold a Doctoral degree (by February of the application period year)
- Professor Exchange Program: Must hold a Master" s degree AND must be currently teaching at a university as a professor
- Program for Education·Science·Culture·International Cooperation Professionals: Must hold a Master "s degree AND must be a professional in Education, Science, Culture, or International Cooperation (E.S.C.I.)
Applicants expected to graduate by July 31st, 2024 can also apply for the program with a certificate of expected graduation. Such applicants must submit their official graduation certificate (or diploma) and final academic transcript to GKS Center, NIIED, by July 31st, 2024. Failure to do so will result in the cancellation of your acceptance
Grades
Applicants should have a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) equivalent to or higher than any one of the criteria below from their previous school.
- Score percentile should be 80%+ (out of 100%) or be ranked within the top 20% in your class.
- CGPA: 2.64/4.0, 2.80/4.3, 2.91/4.5, 3.23/5.0
Applicants must submit an academic transcript with CGPA or ranking information. If your transcript doesn't include information on CGPA or cannot convert their grades into any one of the GPA scales (4.0, 4.3, 4.5, 5.0, or 100-point scale). In that case, the applicant must submit a transcript converted into one of the above GPA scales as a supplementary document.
Age
Must be under 40 years of age (born after September 1, 1984)
Academic professors in one of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) recipients under 45 years of age(born after September 1, 1979) are eligible to apply.
- DAC List of ODA Recipients on 2024 and 2025 flows (http://www.oecd.org )
Health
All applicants must be in good health, both mentally and physically, to study in Korea for the full duration of the program.
Additional Criteria
Previous or current GKS scholars who meet the additional criteria below are eligible to apply.
- Hold a grade of 90% or above on a 100-point scale or be ranked within the top 10% of a class
- Hold TOPIK level 5 or 6 (must hold a valid certificate at the time of application)
Required Documents
Master's Program
- Application Form
- Personal Statement
- Study Plan
- ONE Letter of Recommendation
- GKS Applicant Agreement
- Personal Medical Assessment
- Consent to Collect and Use Personal Information
- Applicant's/Parent(s)' Proof of Citizenship and family relationship Document
- Bachelor's Graduation Certificate (or Diploma)
- Bachelor's Degree Transcript
- Applicant's/Parent(s)' Proof of Citizenship and Family Relationship Document
- Proof of Overseas Korean Document/Proof of Korean Adoptee Document (Optional)
- Proof of Korean Citizenship Renunciation Document (Optional)
- Proof of Korean War Veteran's Descendant (Optional)
- Certificates of Employment or Working Experience (Optional)
- Score report of valid TOPIK (original) or English Proficiency Test (copy) (Optional)
- Awards and other certificates, etc. (copy) (Optional)
- Applicant‟s Passport (copy) (Optional)
Doctoral Program
- Application Form
- Personal Statement
- Study Plan
- ONE Letter of Recommendation
- GKS Applicant Agreement
- Personal Medical Assessment
- Consent to Collect and Use Personal Information
- Bachelor's Graduation Certificate (or Diploma)
- Bachelor's Degree Transcript
- Master's Graduation Certificate (or Diploma)
- Master's Degree Transcript
- Applicant's/Parent(s)' Proof of Citizenship and Family Relationship Document
- Proof of Overseas Korean Document/Proof of Korean Adoptee Document (Optional)
- Proof of Korean Citizenship Renunciation Document (Optional)
- Proof of Korean War Veteran's Descendant (Optional)
- Score report of valid TOPIK (original) or English Proficiency Test (copy) (Optional)
- Awards and other certificates, etc. (copy) (Optional)
- Applicant‟s Passport (copy) (Optional)
Research Program
- Application Form
- Personal Statement
- Research Proposal
- ONE Letter of Recommendation
- Letter of Invitation (issued by the research program university)
- GKS Applicant Agreement
- Personal Medical Assessment
- Consent to Collect and Use Personal Information
- Bachelor's Graduation Certificate (or Diploma)
- Bachelor's Degree Transcript
- Master's Graduation Certificate (or Diploma)
- Master's Degree Transcript
- Doctoral Graduation Certificate (or Diploma): only applicable for Postdoctoral Research program applicants
- Doctoral Degree Transcript: only applicable for Postdoctoral Research program applicants
- Certificate of Employment: only applicable for. professionals under research program
- Applicant's/Parent(s)' Proof of Citizenship and Family Relationship Document
- Proof of Overseas Korean Document/Proof of Korean Adoptee Document (Optional)
- Proof of Korean Citizenship Renunciation Document (Optional)
- Proof of Korean War Veteran's Descendant (Optional)
- Score report of valid TOPIK (original) or English Proficiency Test (copy)(Optional)
- Awards and other certificates, etc. (copy) (Optional)
- Applicant‟s Passport (copy) (Optional)
General
Applicants must choose and apply for only ONE track.
- Embassy track applicant must choose only ONE of the following programs: General, Overseas Korean adoptee or International Reconstruction Talent.
- University track applicants must choose only ONE of the following programs: General, R-GKS, R&D Program, Research Program, or Global Network. University track applicants can only apply to ONE university and ONE department
If an applicant applied to more than one track/university, his or her application will be disregarded at the 2nd round of selection.
Embassy track
Applicants must check with Korean embassies and desired universities regarding the exact application deadline.
Embassy track applicants whose applications have not passed the first selection round* may apply to a university track as long as they can meet the application deadline of the re-applying university.
- Successful candidates of the first selection round (whose names were forwarded to NIIED from each embassy, including backup candidates) cannot apply for a university track again.
University track
The application start date and deadline will be decided at each university's discretion.
Rules & Exceptions
Rule
- Applicants who have graduated from Korean high school (including international schools) or university are NOT eligible to apply. (exception: Overseas Korean adoptees or previous GKS scholars)
Exception: Applicants who have previously studied in Korean universities as exchange or visiting students CAN apply
- Former applicants who had withdrawn from the scholarship after being selected as GKS scholars (applicable to those who did not enter Korea or did not enroll at their Korean language institution/University, and who had renounced their scholarship) and whose scholarship was forfeited during their scholarship period are NOT eligible to apply.
Exception: Former GKS scholar whose scholarship was forfeited due to a scholar‟s failure to achieve TOPIK level 3 or above after completing the Korean language program may be deemed eligible to re-apply if a scholar submits a valid TOPIK certificate with level 5 or above.
- Applicants who have previously received a degree program scholarship from one of the Korean government scholarship programs are NOT eligible to apply.
Exception: Applicants who received scholarships from the GKS Non-degree program for foreign exchange students CAN apply.
Applicants must check additional restrictions or eligibility set by each university
Please check if there are any additional eligibility set by each university/department
- Embassy track applicants who succeed in the first and second rounds of selection may also fail in the third round of selection if they do not meet the additional eligibility set by each university/department
- Please be mindful of any additional restrictions set by each university/department. If you do not meet this standard and fail to enroll in the university, your scholarship may be canceled, and you must return to your country at your own expense even though you have completed the Korean language program
Please check if there are any additional restrictions (e.g., enrollment period) set by each university/department - Scholars whose Korean language program is delayed (e.g., return after a leave of absence) must check if their degree program is only available to start at a certain period of time. For example, if a program starts in September only, scholars cannot resume their degree program in March.
