How to apply for the GKS scholarship 2027: eligibility, documents and dates

The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) is the Korean government's scholarship for international students, run by NIIED, the National Institute for International Education. For an undergraduate it covers a full degree: tuition (NIIED pays up to ₩5,000,000 a semester and the university covers the rest), a year of Korean language study before the degree, an economy flight to Korea and an all-inclusive allowance of ₩14,400,000 a year during the degree, ₩13,560,000 during the language year. The allowance is meant to cover rent, living costs and health insurance.

This guide walks through the 2027 undergraduate call in the order you will go through it. Every rule below comes from the guidelines NIIED published on Study in Korea on 9 September 2026. Where your embassy or university sets its own rules, we say so. What the scholarship pays for and how applications are scored is covered in GKS scholarship: what it covers, who can apply and how selection works.

Start from this year's documents

Do not prepare anything from last year's PDF. Each cycle NIIED publishes new guidelines, a new list of universities and departments and new country quotas. Compared with 2026, the 2027 call changed in four ways:

• Round order. After the embassy, applications now go to NIIED first and to the universities last. In 2026 it was the other way round.
• University lists. Type A has 28 universities instead of 30; Type B has 42 instead of 39.
• Quotas. The Embassy Track offers 156 places across 74 countries, up from 150 across 71.
• Age limit. Applicants must be born on or after 1 March 2002.

Everything you need sits in one post on Study in Korea: the guidelines, the application forms and the "University Information" files. The link is in the sources at the end.

Step 1. Check that you can apply

• Citizenship. You must be a citizen of a country invited to the program, and neither you nor your parents may hold Korean citizenship, dual citizenship included. If you or a parent once held it, you need an official Korean document proving it was renounced.
• Age. Under 25: born on or after 1 March 2002.
• School. You have finished high school or will finish by 31 December 2026. Applicants still at school send a certificate of expected graduation now; if they pass the first round, the graduation certificate and transcript must reach NIIED by 31 December 2026, or the offer is cancelled. Anyone with a bachelor's degree cannot apply.
• Grades. Your average across the whole high school program must meet one of three conditions: 80 or more out of 100; top 20% of your class; or at least 2.64/4.0, 2.80/4.3, 2.91/4.5 or 3.23/5.0.
• Who is excluded. Graduates of Korean high schools, including international schools in Korea and online programs run from Korea, and anyone who has already held a Korean government scholarship for a degree.

The country list is the first thing to check. The Embassy Track is open to 74 countries in 2027, most of them with one to four places; the full table is in section I of the guidelines. If your country is not on it, one door stays open: the UIC program on the University Track accepts applicants from any country.

If your school grades on another scale, ask the school for an official conversion. A converted transcript printed from WES or Scholaro only counts if the school authenticates it.

Step 2. Choose one track and one program

GKS has two ways in, and each has its own programs.

Embassy Track. You apply online through Study in Korea, and the Korean embassy in your country runs the first round, usually with an interview.

• General: 88 places. You list up to three universities in order of preference, from Type A (28 universities, mostly in Seoul) and Type B (42 regional ones), and at least one must be Type B.
• R-GKS: 61 places, for regional universities. You list up to two, both from Type B.
• Overseas Koreans and adoptees: 7 places.

University Track. You apply to the university directly, by its own method and deadline. For 2027 this track is narrow:

• UIC (University–Industry Cooperation): 100 places in science and engineering departments at 13 institutions, 10 universities for a bachelor's and 3 colleges for an associate degree. Open to every country.
• Associate degree: 30 places at 9 colleges.

You get one application: one track, one program, and on the University Track one university and one department. Applying twice disqualifies you, and if it comes out after selection, the scholarship is cancelled.

There is one allowed second attempt, and it only works in one direction. If your embassy rejects you in the first round, you may still apply through the University Track; the 2027 timetable leaves room for it, with embassy results by 16 October and university deadlines running into November. If you pass the embassy's first round, even as a backup candidate, you can no longer apply through the University Track.

How to decide between the two, and how to list three universities without ending up with none, is covered in GKS Embassy Track vs University Track.

Step 3. Pick universities and departments from the 2027 list

You can only apply to universities and departments that appear in this cycle's "University Information" files, attached to the GKS notice. Write the department's official name exactly as it appears there: an incorrect department name can get the application disqualified. Evening, short-term, online and distance programs are not eligible.

Think about the field before you commit. Applicants to science and engineering departments get a 5% bonus in the evaluation, and once you are selected, you cannot move to a different field of study.

Step 4. Prepare the documents

The documents fall into three groups. The forms come in the application pack attached to the notice.

Forms you fill in

• Application Form, in English.
• Personal Statement and Study Plan, in English or Korean.
• Recommendation Letter: one letter from someone who can judge your academic ability, such as your principal or a teacher, dated within one year of the application deadline.
• GKS Applicant Agreement, Personal Medical Assessment and Consent to Collect and Use Personal Information.

Certificates

• Proof of your citizenship and your parents', and of your relationship to them: a birth certificate or family register. If it does not show citizenship, add passport copies.
• High school graduation certificate, or a certificate of expected graduation that states the date or month.
• High school transcript.
• Associate degree certificate and transcript, if you are applying with one.
• Proof of overseas Korean or adoptee status, of renounced Korean citizenship or of descent from a Korean War veteran, only if they apply to you.

Optional

• A TOPIK, TOEFL or IELTS score report.
• Up to five certificates or awards from high school onward that back up your Personal Statement and Study Plan.

Language scores are optional but scored. Without a certificate you get half of the language points; TOPIK level 3 or higher also earns a bonus of 3 to 5%. The English name on every document must match your passport exactly: a mismatch delays the visa later.

Step 5. Get apostilles and translations early

This is the slowest part of the application, and it has the most rules.

• Apostille or consular confirmation. Certificates need an apostille if your country belongs to the Apostille Convention, or a consular confirmation from the Korean embassy if it does not. The graduation certificate and transcript may be consular-confirmed even in apostille countries.
• Translation. Documents in a language other than English or Korean need a certified translation. The apostille can go on either the original or the translation.
• Digital certificates need an apostille too.
• Copies. A photocopy of an apostilled document is not accepted, even a notarized one. If an original cannot be reissued, keep it and apostille a notarized copy instead.
• Validity. An apostille with no expiry date is accepted for two years from the date it was issued.
• No apostille needed on the forms you fill in, on awards and certificates of achievement, or on a converted transcript authenticated by your school.

Nothing you submit is returned. If you are selected, get several apostilled copies of your graduation certificate before you leave for Korea: the university needs one for your admission letter, the embassy for the visa and the immigration office for your residence status.

On the Embassy Track, the first round runs on scans, and originals are due only from those who pass it. The window is short: first-round results come by 16 October, and recommended applications must reach NIIED by 30 October. If apostilles take weeks in your country, start them while you apply.

Step 6. Submit

Embassy Track. Create an account on Study in Korea (studyinkorea.go.kr), fill in the forms online and upload scans of everything before 30 September, 18:00 Korea time. Your embassy announces its own first-round schedule, including interview dates and the deadline for originals. If you pass, print the forms from the system, sign every signature field by hand and hand in the originals the way the embassy asks.

University Track. Follow the university's own admissions notice: it sets the deadline, the documents and the method, whether in person, by post or online.

For paper sets, NIIED asks for a specific layout:

• documents in the order of the Application Checklist, the first page of the form, which also serves as the cover;
• each document numbered and labelled in the top right corner, for example "8. High School Graduation Certificate (Consular confirmed)";
• A4 or US Letter size: attach smaller documents to a blank sheet and fold larger ones.

Step 7. What happens after you apply

Embassy Track, 2027 dates:

• by 16 October: first-round results from the embassy;
• by 30 October: recommended applications reach NIIED;
• November: second round (NIIED), results on Study in Korea;
• by 23 December, 18:00: third round, where your chosen universities decide;
• by 29 December, 18:00: log in to Study in Korea and confirm your final university;
• around 7 January 2027: final list of scholars;
• January: invitation letter by email.

University Track, 2027 dates:

• November: first-round results from the university;
• by 30 November: applications reach NIIED;
• mid-December: NIIED's results;
• around 7 January 2027: final list of scholars.

NIIED does not notify applicants of each round's results. Checking the GKS notices and My Page on Study in Korea is up to you. The schedule can also change mid-call. In the 2026 cycle a fire at a government data center in Daejeon took Study in Korea offline four days before the deadline, and embassies switched to taking applications in person, by post or through their own forms, each with new dates. During the application window, check your embassy's website as well as Study in Korea.

If you have missed the embassy deadline

• If you are eligible for UIC or an associate degree, the University Track keeps accepting applications into November.
• If you already have a bachelor's degree, wait for GKS-G 2027. Last year's call was published on 2 February.
• The next undergraduate call, GKS-U 2028, should come out in September 2027; the 2027 call was published on 9 September. A TOPIK certificate and apostilled documents prepared in advance will put you ahead of most applicants.

Our grant application support covers these steps, from choosing a track and universities to checking the documents before submission.

Sources

• 2027 GKS-U application guidelines, forms and University Information files: Study in Korea
• GKS notice board: Study in Korea