Korean university scholarships for international students

Few applicants win a GKS scholarship. But almost every Korean university offers international students its own tuition discounts, and most often for knowing Korean. At Sejong, in humanities, the gap between TOPIK 3 and TOPIK 5 is worth ₩1,867,600 in the first semester alone.

We collected the rules of seven universities from their own guides: what they pay for, how much, and how not to lose the discount on a technicality.

Types of scholarship

Leave the names aside and universities offer four kinds of discount:

• for language: for TOPIK or an English score, usually for the first semester only;
• for admission results: for the strongest applicants, sometimes for the whole degree;
• for certain countries: most often developing countries on the OECD list;
• for grades: for current students with a high GPA.

You almost never apply for them separately. Korea University, Hanyang, SKKU and Kyung Hee say plainly that scholarships are awarded on the documents submitted for admission. The exception in our sample is Ewha: most of its scholarships need a separate form attached to the application.

The TOPIK discount

This is the most common and most predictable discount: you know in advance what each level gets you. The discount applies to the first semester:

What that means in money: a semester of humanities at Sejong costs ₩4,669,000. TOPIK 3 saves ₩1,400,700, TOPIK 5 saves ₩3,268,300. At Hanyang a semester in the same fields costs ₩5,279,000, and TOPIK 6 covers all of it.

Korea University gives no TOPIK discount at all: its scholarships depend only on admission results, covered below.

If you apply with English

English-taught programs give the discount for TOEFL or IELTS, but the thresholds are higher than for admission:

You cannot mix them. Konkuk counts only English scores for its English track and only Korean scores for its Korean track. At Kyung Hee the TOPIK 5 discount is not available to English-track applicants.

A language program at the same university

If you learn Korean at a university's language institute first and then apply to the same university, it often pays off:

• Konkuk treats levels from its own language institute like TOPIK: from 30% for level 3 to 100% for level 6. Two semesters of its program add another ₩500,000.
• Hanyang and SKKU: level 6 at their own institute waives the whole first semester, level 5 half of it.
• Sejong: graduates of its language center's prep course recommended by the dean get the first semester free.
• Kyung Hee: graduates of its affiliated institutes recommended by the dean also get the whole first semester.
• Korea University: level 6 at its language center earns ₩500,000, level 5 ₩300,000, once.

Konkuk also accepts King Sejong Institute certificates: from 30% for level 3B to 100% for 6B.

Scholarships for the whole degree

Language discounts almost always cover one semester. Longer awards go to the strongest admits: the university ranks everyone it admits and waives tuition for the top for several years. The condition for keeping them is always the same, good grades:

You cannot count on these the way you can on a TOPIK discount. But the same things lift you in the ranking: strong language scores, grades and a good personal statement.

Scholarships for certain countries

Some scholarships target developing countries on the OECD's DAC List of ODA Recipients. It includes most of Africa, Latin America and South and Southeast Asia, as well as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus and Mongolia. Russia is not on it.

• Ewha, EGPP: full tuition, dormitory and a living stipend. Ewha is a women's university.
• Korea University, Global Friends: full tuition for 4 semesters for students from Africa, South America and other developing countries with strong admission results.
• SKKU, Global Leader: half tuition for 8 semesters, among others for students from DAC countries that are underrepresented at the university.
• Kyung Hee, Samsung Dream: for students from DAC countries, full tuition plus an extra ₩3,900,000. It goes to students already enrolled.

Once you are enrolled

From the second semester on, your GPA is what counts.

• Konkuk: with 12 credits and a GPA of 3.0 or higher, the top 5% of each division get full tuition, the top 10% get 60%, the top 20% 30% and the top 35% 10%.
• Sejong: 20% to 50% of tuition for good grades, with at least 15 credits in the previous semester.
• Hanyang: a scholarship for students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and a separate one for TOPIK 5 or 6 obtained after admission.

Improving your Korean while you study pays too. Konkuk pays ₩300,000 to students who were admitted without TOPIK or with TOPIK 3 and reached level 4–6 in their first semester. Kyung Hee pays ₩500,000 a semester, for up to three semesters, to students with a TOPIK certificate and a GPA of at least 2.0 who did not get a TOPIK discount on admission.

Rules that cost people the discount

The certificate must be in your application. This is the main rule. Ewha does not consider applicants who marked "TOPIK result pending" for its TOPIK scholarships. At Hanyang, a certificate sent after the document deadline counts only toward the language requirement, not the discount. Konkuk states that there is no additional submission period. So take TOPIK early enough for the result to arrive before you apply.

Discounts usually do not stack. Hanyang gives only the largest of several scholarships, and so does Kyung Hee. Konkuk lets you combine different types, such as TOPIK and its language program, but only up to the semester's tuition.

The certificate must not expire. Konkuk accepts scores issued within the last 24 months.

Multi-year scholarships depend on grades. If your GPA drops below the threshold or you take too few credits, the scholarship is not renewed. SKKU withdraws the Samsung Global Sungkyun scholarship after the second such semester.

How to use this

• Take TOPIK one level higher than admission requires. At Sejong and Konkuk each extra level adds 20 to 30 percentage points of discount.
• Compare universities on the semester price minus your discount, not on the list price.
• If you plan a language program first, choose one at the university you want to enter.
• If your country is on the DAC list, check the scholarships for developing countries separately.
• If you need full tuition and living costs, look at the government's GKS scholarship.

How admission itself works is covered in bachelor's in Korea without GKS, and the full budget in the cost of studying and living in Korea.

If you would like help picking universities where your language level earns the biggest discount, leave a request and we will work out the options for your profile.

Sources

• Sejong University: admission guide for international students, fall 2026
• Konkuk University: admission guidelines for international students, fall 2026
• Korea University: application guide for international students, fall 2026
• Kyung Hee University: international student scholarships, spring 2026
• Ewha Womans University: admission guide for international applicants, spring 2027
• Hanyang University: admission guide for international students, spring 2027 (in Korean)
• SKKU: scholarships for international undergraduates
• OECD: DAC List of ODA Recipients, 2024–2025