Scholarships in Korea are assistance programs aimed at helping students in or from South Korea pursue their education. Scholarships come in different forms based on factors such as the duration of study and the applicant's academic qualifications. They have various root aims, including recognizing academic achievement, promoting research and knowledge in specific fields, promoting global academic exchange, and reducing the financial burden on individuals.
Some Korean universities offer internal scholarships based on merit or on financial need. External scholarships are provided by companies such as Samsung, domestic and foreign governments, and private foundations, each with a different focus. The Korean Government Scholarship Program includes several programs like KGSPIS, KGSPSO, and support for foreign exchange students. The Korea Student Aid Foundation manages government-supported student aid programs. Some private foundations including the Korea Foundation and the Korea Research Foundation focus primarily on graduate-level scholarships, and the Korea Scholarship Foundation for Future Leaders has a focus on foreign graduate students from Asian, Latin-American, and African countries.
Common goals of scholarship donors in Korea
Scholarship donors and foundations indicate a multitude of reasons as to why they started to offer their scholarship program for students in Korea, while certain goals are mentioned repeatedly throughout all scholarship descriptions: Awarding excellent students for their display of academic performance Furthering academic and practical research in Korea, especially in sciences and IT Supporting and developing rare talent in very specific or technical majors. Fostering exchange of academic scholars throughout Asia and the world Easing the burden of tuition on students and PhD candidates
Differentiation of scholarships
The general availability, ease of accessibility and amount of funding (per stay and applicant) differs widely depends on the intended duration of study or research and the highest academic qualification of the applicant. Similar to other countries, scholarship applications for a short-term exchange (around six months) have the highest chance of success.
Internal (University) Scholarships
Universities like Korea University, Yonsei University and Hanyang University have their own merit- and need-based scholarships for international students and scholars.
Korea University
Korea University offers a variety of circa 20 scholarships, of which five are solely based on "grade in admission", while for the rest of the scholarships, recipients are chosen by an "open selection" based on either merit or need or both.
The university also offers the "BK21" scholarship initiated by the Korean government. Its target applicants are IT majors in the graduate school, while another goal is the improvement of the faculty situation.
Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Sungkyunkwan University provides several internal scholarship schemes for international students: Academic excellence scholarship and Sungkyunkwan Global Scholarship. Also, they provide government-funded scholarship such as BK21 scholarship and IBS scholarship.
External Scholarships
Aside from university scholarships, there are also multinational companies like Samsung who have their own education aid schemes. The Korean government also has schemes like the NIIED, IITA and KRF scholarships. Finally there are private foundations who offer scholarships.
Service Center for International Students
Since July 2012 the NIIED offers a dedicated service center for international students ("외국인유학생상담센터") that provides various information regarding Korea and the scholarship programs that International Students can apply for.
Government scholarships
Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) The "Global Korea Scholarship (GKS)" is an umbrella term to cover various scholarship and support programs to invite international students to Republic of Korea (South Korea), and support Korean students' study abroad. This is organised and operated by the 'National Institute for International Education (NIIED)', which is the educational governmental institute of Ministry of Education, Government of Republic of Korea. Further information is available at their two websites.
Study in Korea: National Institute for International Education (NIIED):
All of below belong to the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS).