Korean Scholarship – With a dynamic fusion of Asian cultures, South Korea is a country that not only offers a fascinating lifestyle but also a fast-moving education system. Also, the Korean Government offers a number of scholarship opportunities for Indian students to help them pursue their higher education in South Korea. There are a few reasons why many Indian students select South Korea as their study-abroad destination for higher studies.
All students who want to study at Korean University on a Korean Government Scholarship must go through the below details carefully.
Korean Scholarship 2024 – Purpose of the Program
The Korean scholarship programs are created for international graduate or undergraduate students who want to pursue a Master’s degree in business management, research program or a PhD. The main aim of the Korean government scholarship program is to promote the international exchange of education.
Korean Scholarship 2024 – Application Dates
In general, the scholarship registration window for Korean Government Scholarship (KGS) remains open for a month. Students interested in applying for the Korean scholarship can do so through the Indo-Korean embassy or university track. Buddy4study highly recommends students to apply for the scholarship through the embassy track.
Application Track for KGS*
| Timeline Procedure | For Undergraduate Students | For Graduate Students |
| Applications Released | September (One-year prior) | February (One-year prior) |
| Recommendation | October to November in the year before planned studies in Korea | March to April in the year before planned studies in Korea |
| Results | January (Planned year) | June (Planned year) |
| Arrival in Korea | February End (Planned year) | August End (Planned year) |
*The application timeline is subject to the decision of the Korean government, their institutes and the current pandemic.
Korean Scholarship 2024 – Awards and Benefits
While the primary objective of the Korean government scholarship is to attract talented international students, it also ensures that Indian students receive beneficial scholarship awards. Eligible students who want to avail themselves of the chance to study in any Korean university through a government scholarship can get the below-mentioned scholarship awards. The scholarships cover:
- Tuition fees
- Cost of flight tickets
- Monthly allowance
- Language training cost
- Medical insurance
- Resettlement allowance
- An award for showing proficiency in the Korean language
- A grant for printing thesis or dissertation
- A grant for supporting research work
Korean Scholarship 2024 – 5 Schemes for Indian Students
There are different Korean scholarship programs that are offered to international students. Here are 5 of the top Korean scholarship opportunities for Indian students.
1. Global Korea Scholarship Program
This scholarship is offered to international students who want to pursue higher studies in undergraduate and graduate programmes at the institutions of the Republic of Korea. Eligible candidates can apply for a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral degree programmes under this program.
Eligibility:
- The applicants must not hold Korean citizenship.
- The candidates must be below 25 years at the date of joining (undergraduate).
- The applicants must have secured 80% or more marks in the last attended educational institution [CGPA: 2.64/4.0 or 2.80/4.3 or 2.91/4.5, or 3.23/5.0].
- The candidates must be in good physical and mental health.
- The students must have a minimum of 16 and 18 years of formal education to apply for PG and PhD courses.
Benefits:
The selected candidates will receive the following benefits under this program:
- Fully-funded scholarship
- Resettlement Allowance of KRW* 200,000
- Living Allowance of 900,000 KRW to 1,000,000 KRW
- Language Courses costing KRW 800,000 per quarter
- Medical Insurance of KRW 20,000 per month
*KRW refers to South Korean Won.
Eligibility as per Program:
- For Master’s Program:
- The applicants must be less than 45 years of age.
- The students must be bachelor’s or equivalent degree holders.
- For Doctoral Program (Ph.D.):
- The applicants must be less than 40 years of age.
- The students must hold master’s or equivalent degree.
- For Research Program:
- The applicants must be less than 45 years of age.
- The students must hold an invitation from one of the National Institute of International Education (NIIED) designated Korean university.
- For Post-Doctoral Research Program: The applicants must hold a doctoral degree or equivalent education.
- For Professor Exchange Program: The applicants must hold a master’s degree or equivalent education.
- For Program for Education, Science, Culture(International Professionals): The applicants must hold a master’s degree or equivalent education.
Scholarship Duration:
- Associate Degree – 3 to 4 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
- Bachelor’s Degree – 5 to 7 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
Documents Required –
The applicants are required to submit/upload the following documents to apply for the program:
- Class 10 and 12 marksheets and certificates
- Transcripts of applicants (higher qualifications)
- Bachelors/Masters/Doctoral degree or equivalent
2. Korean Government Support Program for Foreign Exchange Students
This scheme is offered to international exchange students where nearly 200 foreign students can avail of the scholarship. Only hardworking, talented and deserving students from the selected country/countries will be awarded financial aid. National Institute for International Education (NIIED) is the institute offering this scholarship programme to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Eligibility:
- The applicants must not hold Korean citizenship.
- The students must have excellent academic and school record.
- The candidates must have secured 80% or more marks (out of 100%) in the last attended educational institution
- The applicants must have completed at least two semesters.
- The candidates must be in good physical and mental health.
Benefits:
The selected candidates will receive the following benefits
- Fully-funded scholarship
- Resettlement Allowance of KRW 200,000
- Medical Insurance of KRW 20,000 per month
- Reimbursement amount within the set amount
Scholarship Duration:
- For 1 term – 4 months
- For 2 terms – 10 months
3. Seoul National University Scholarship
Seoul National University (SNU) Scholarship is a fully-funded scholarship that is offered to international students (including Indians) to pursue a Master’s, MPhil, PhD and MS leading to PhD degree for Spring session 2024.
Eligibility:
- The applicants should not hold Korean citizenship.
- The candidates must have excellent academic and school record.
- The applicants must have secured 80% or more marks (out of 100%) in the last attended educational institution.
- The students must be in good physical and mental health.
- The applicants must hold a master’s degree or higher (for Doctorate).
- The candidates must hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (for Master’s/Combined Master’s & Doctoral).
Benefits:
The selected candidates will receive the following benefits:
- Fully-funded scholarship (tuition fee exempted for a maximum of 8 semesters)
- Resettlement Allowance
- Stipend for 2 years
- Medical Insurance
- Reimbursement amount within the set amount
Scholarship Duration:
- Bachelor’s Degree – 4 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
- Graduate Degree – 5 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
4. KAIST Scholarship
Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Scholarship is an amazing opportunity for Indian undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students who want to avail advanced education in Science and Technology and make progress in entrepreneurship, research and globalisation.
Eligibility:
- The applicants must not hold Korean citizenship or dual citizenship.
- The candidates must have excellent academic and school record.
- The students must have a high school diploma or degree from their home country’s institutes.
- The candidates must be in good physical and mental health.
Note: Students obtaining a TOPIK score of 5 or more are exempt from taking the 1-year language course.
Benefits:
The selected candidates will receive the following benefits upon selection:
- Fully-funded scholarship (tuition fee exempted for a maximum of 8 semesters for PhD and 4 semesters for Masters)
- Resettlement Allowance
- Monthly living allowances of KRW 350,000
- Medical Insurance (free National Health Insurance)
- Reimbursement amount within the set amount
Scholarship Duration:
- Bachelor’s Degree – 4 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
- Master’s Degree – 3 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
- Doctoral degree – 4 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
Application Dates (every year):
For Undergraduates:
- From 1st September to 23rd October (For Early Admissions)
- From 9th November to 8th January (For Regular Admissions)
- From 1st March to 28th May (For Late Admissions)
5. KGSP Scholarship
The Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) is an initiative that is jointly designed by the Korean Government and the Government of India. This scholarship program offers fully-funded scholarships to Indian students. Under this scholarship, students pursuing graduation, postgraduate and doctorate-level courses can avail of financial aid to pursue advanced education.
Eligibility:
- The candidates must not hold Korean citizenship or dual citizenship.
- The applicants must not have excellent academic and school record.
- The candidates must be below 25 years of age (for UG degree).
- The students must be below 40 years of age (for graduate degree).
- The candidates must have secured more than 80% of CGPA.
- The applicants must be in good physical and mental health.
Benefits:
The selected candidates will receive the following benefits:
- Fully-funded scholarship (up to KRW 5,000,000 per semester)
- Airfare expenses of grantees
- Resettlement Allowance (up to KRW 20,000)
- Monthly living allowances of KRW 350,000
- Medical Insurance (free National Health Insurance)
- KRW 100,000 award to be given to students after degree completion
Scholarship Duration:
- Bachelor’s Degree – 4 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
- Master’s Degree – 2 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
- Doctoral degree – 3 years including 1 year of Korean language programme
Application Dates (every year):
As the Korean Government Scholarship Program is announced once a year, there are no specific scholarship registration dates.
Korean Scholarship 2024 – Documents Required
Given below is the list of key documents that a candidate must keep handy while applying for Korean Scholarship-
- Letter of Intent
- Personal Statement and Study Plan
- Two Letters of Recommendation from two different recommenders
- Signed scholarship agreement
- Official Bachelor’s Certificate of Graduation and Transcript
- Official Master’s Certificate of Graduation and Transcript (Applicable for applicants of doctoral degree)
- A copy of the Applicant’s Passport
- Other Official Document indicating the Applicant’s Nationality
- Copies of Both Parents’ Passport
- Other Official Document indicating Both Parents’ Nationality.
- Other Official Document indicating Parent-child Relationship between the Applicant and his/her Parents
Korean Scholarship 2024 – Other Details
- Universities oriented towards international students conduct 30% of their lectures in the English language.
- Compared to undergraduate courses, most of the lectures for graduate programmes are conducted in English.
- Students are advised to enrol in the Korean language to attain maximum information about their course. The scholarship award also covers language training courses.
- Applicants submitting the scholarship application forms must fill it in either Korean or English to avoid registration cancellation.
- All original documents are required to be submitted. In case students want to submit photocopies of their documents, those must be certified.
Korean Scholarship 2024 — How to Apply?
After fulfilling the eligibility criteria of any of the above-mentioned Korean scholarship programmes, candidates can apply for it online through the Sakshat portal of MHRD. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is the nominating agency in India for the Korean Government scholarship program. Also, a student needs to send the hard copy of the completed application form along with the required documents to MHRD. A step-by-step description of the application process is mentioned hereunder –
Step 1: Visit the official website of the Sakshat portal of MHRD.
Step 2: Select ‘Korean Government Scholarship Program’ and click on the apply button.
Step 3: Fill in the application form.
Step 4: Attach all supporting documents.
Step 5: Submit the online application.
Step 6: After successful submission of the online application, download the application prescribed by the Korean government from its official website.
Step 7: Fill in all necessary details and attach the supporting documents.
Step 8: Send the completed application form to –
The Under Secretary (Scholarship), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, West Block — 1, 2nd Floor, Wing — 6, R.K. Puram, New Delhi — 110066
Korean Scholarship 2024 — Selection Procedure
The initial shortlisting of the applications for the Korean scholarship program is done by the MHRD. A merit list is prepared of all the applications received. The weightage is given to institutions of national importance/ centrally funded educational institutions (CEFIs) and NAAC-accredited institutions from where the applicants have completed or are pursuing their qualifying examination. A total of 15 applications are shortlisted which are further sent for nominations to the Korean Government. Thereafter, the Korean Government shortlists only 10 nominations for the award of scholarship.
Korean Scholarship 2024 – Helpline
1. Global Korea Scholarship Program
Contact number – 02-3668-1490
2. Korean Government Support Program for Foreign Exchange Students
Contact number – +82-2-3668-1490/ +82-2-3668-1492
3. Seoul National University Scholarship
Contact number – 82-2-880-6971, 6977
Email – snuadmit@snu.ac.kr
4. KAIST Scholarship
Contact number – Undergraduate: 042-350-2367
Master and Ph.D.: 042-350-2366
5. KGSP Scholarship
Contact number – 02-3668-1490, 1491