Indian Students Only: 2024 GKS Global Korea Scholarship for Undergraduate Study

2024 Global Korea Scholarship Application Guidelines for Undergraduate Degrees

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

have been made public by the Korean embassy in India and the NIIED. Applications are now being accepted for Indian students wishing to pursue an undergraduate degree in Korea through both university and embassy tracks. We will give you all the information you require on the GKS 2024 application process in this article.

SCHOLARSHIP OBJECTIVES

The Global Korea Scholarship aims to foster international education exchange and strengthen ties between participating nations by giving overseas students the chance to pursue academic degrees at Korean higher education institutions.

The Korean Government Scholarship Program was renamed GKS (Global Korea Scholarship) in 2010 after it was combined and rebranded as such.

SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION

Period of Scholarship 

• Bachelor’s Degree Program: 5~7 years – 1 year of Korean language training + 4~6 years of degree program 
• Associate Degree Program: 3~4 years – 1 year of Korean language training + 2~3 years of degree program

Important Notes regarding Scholarship Period

Applicants who submitted TOPIK level 5 or 6 will be exempt from a Korean language program

Those who receive TOPIK level 5 or 6 within the first 6 months of the Korean language program will be exempt from the remaining 6-month language program and must start their degree program in the following semester (September 2024)

SCHOLARSHIP BENEFITS

 Important Notes regarding Scholarship Benefits

The Global Korea Scholarship aims to foster international education exchange and strengthen ties between participating nations by giving overseas students the chance to pursue academic degrees at Korean higher education institutions.

The Korean Government Scholarship Program was renamed GKS (Global Korea Scholarship) in 2010 after it was combined and rebranded as such.

PROGRAMS 

PROGRAM QUOTA FOR INDIANS

EMBASSY TRACK: 2

UNIVERSITY TRACK: 2

ASSOCIATE DEGREE PROGRAMS: (SOUTHEAST ASIA-4)

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

NATIONALITY-

All applicants must hold citizenship of NIIED designated countries that are invited to take part in the GKS program.

– Applicants’ parents (or legal guardians) must hold citizenship from another country other than Korea. If applicants or their parent hold dual citizenship (one who has both Korean citizenship and citizenship of another country), such applicant is NOT eligible to apply.

-Applicants and their parents who had previously held Korean citizenship must submit documentation issued by the Korean government that proves their renunciation of Korean citizenship

-If an applicant’s citizenship is changed during the selection process, he or she will be excluded from the evaluation. (Not applicable to UIC applicants).

LEVEL OF EDUCATION-

-Bachelor’s degree program is for applicants who graduated (or are expected to graduate) from a high school or from an associate degree program

– Associate degree program is for applicants who graduated (or are expected to graduate) from a high school.

1. Applicants who have a bachelor’s degree cannot apply. Applicants who have associate degree can only apply to a bachelor’s program 

2. Applicants who are expected to graduate must first submit a certificate of expected graduation at the time of application. If such applicants pass the first round of selection, they must submit a graduation certificate (or a degree certificate) by December 31, 2023

3. Japanese nationals who are projected to graduate by March 31, 2024, are eligible to apply for this opportunity. Please ensure that you provide a certificate of expected graduation with your application. If accepted, you must submit your final transcript and graduation certificate by March 31, 2024. Failure to do so will result in the cancellation of your acceptance.

4. Applicants who submit their provisional graduation certificate will be considered as applicants who are expected to graduate.

GRADES-

– Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of the entire curriculum from the previous (degree) program must meet one of the two conditions below;

1.  Score percentile should be 80% or above on a 100-point scale or be ranked within the top 20% 9 within one’s class 
2.  CGPA must be equal to or above 2.64/4.0, 2.80/4.3, 2.91/4.5 or 3.23/5.0 

Previous degree program for Associate degree program applicants: high school program

Previous degree program for Bachelor’s degree program applicants: high school program or associate degree program 

•  If an applicant holds a transcript that does not provide CGPA information or is unable to convert his or her grades into any one of the accepted GPA scales (4.0, 4.3, 4.5, 5.0, or 100 point scale), then the applicant must submit additional documents officially issued by their respective school/university describing the institution’s grading system.  
• Applicants who are expected to graduate should calculate the most recent CGPA at the time of application.

AGE-

– Must be under 25 years of age (born after March 1, 1999)

HEALTH-

All applicants must be in good health, both mentally and physically, to study in Korea for the full duration of the program.

APPLICATION AND SELECTION

DOCUMENTS TO SUBMIT

Application period and method of submission

– Application period:

Each embassy and university has their own application deadline, so applicants must check with the respective institute before submitting application 

– Method of submission:

Each embassy and university who conducts the first round of selection may have their own document submission guidelines, so applicants must check with the respective institute before submitting application

 List of documents to submit

Things to note when preparing application documents 

– Application documents for the FIRST round of selection 

• All documents must be submitted in English or Korean Please follow the submission guidelines set by each Korean embassy/university 
•  Each embassy/university may simplify the submission of documents based on their selection procedure. Check with the embassy/university prior to submission 
• Application documents of the successful candidates of the first round must meet the submission requirements for the second round of selection upon arrival to NIIED 

– Application documents for the SECOND round of selection

•  If any of the required documents are not submitted or if any of the application forms are submitted without applicant’s signature, his or her application documents may be excluded from evaluation 
•  If your document is unable to be re-issued, please keep the original and obtain an apostille (or 15 consular confirmation) on a notarized copy 

※ All application submitted to NIIED will not be returned in any case. (NIED stores the original application for a period of more than 5 years) 

•  Simple photocopies or notarized copies of the apostilled (or consular confirmed) documents are NOT accepted. However, a certified true copy (등본 인증) issued by a Korean embassy or a certified true copy issued by a government agency that issued the original apostille document will be accepted 
•  If an applicant graduated from a third country, he or she can submit graduation certificate and academic transcript with consular confirmation issued by an embassy of the relevant country 
•  Required certificates that are issued online must also be apostilled (or consular confirmed) 
• If there is an expiration date on an apostilled or consular confirmed document, the validity of the document will be judged based on the date indicated on the authentication. If there is no specific date indicated, the document will be accepted if it was submitted within 2 years from the date of authentication
•  If a university requires additional documents (e.g., portfolio), applicants must submit those materials directly to the university.

THINGS TO CHECK WHEN SUBMITTING DOCUMENTS

[Both Embassy and University Track] 

– Applicants must put the official name of the university/department they are applying to 

Applicants can only apply among the universities and departments listed in the “University Information” file. If an incorrect department is written on an application, such application may be disqualified in the evaluation

– Applicant’s English name MUST match the name on their passport

  (Attention!) Any discrepancy in applicant’s name (family, given, middle name) will cause a delay in visa processing 

– Applicants must check the completeness of all application documents 

– Application documents must be submitted in the order of the “Application Checklist.” which itself should be the front cover of each set of application documents

– Please number and label each document on the top right corner (e.g.) 8. High School Graduation Certificate (Consular confirmed) 

– All documents should be submitted as a A4 sized (or letter sized) documents If a document is smaller than A4 sized (or letter sized) document, attach it on a blank A4 sized paper. If a document is larger than a A4 size document, fold the document into a A4 size

[Embassy Track] 

– Embassy track applicants must check the requirements when filling in desired universities

Applicants can choose up to THREE different universities

 Applicants cannot choose three different departments from a single university

Of the chosen universities, at least one university must be from Type B universities 

If applicants fill out a Type A university in a Type B section, their application may be excluded from evaluation

– Please be reminded that if applicants choose all three universities among highly competitive universities, even if they pass the second round of selection, some can fail from all three universities in their final round of selection

[University Track] 

– University track applicants should fill in ONE university in their application

EVALUATION

○Main Points of Evaluation

 Review of Qualification: Selection committee will conduct document examination (citizenship, level of education, academic grades, etc.) and verify whether an applicant is qualified for the program 

– Review of Competency: Selection committee will evaluate each applicant’s competency through document examination and an oral interview

Evaluation Preference

 – Overseas Koreans

– Applicants from low-income families or underprivileged background

– Applicants who submit a high score of English proficiency test (TOEFL,IELTS) 21 – Applicants who applied for a natural science and engineering department in a regional university – (Relevant to associate degree applicants) Winner of a national level competition on technical skills

FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT

○ Announcement of Final Successful Candidates

– (Embassy Track) Universities should notify each candidate of the result of the third round by December 15, 2023 

※ Candidates who fail from all three universities in their final round of selection will be disqualified from the program Embassy Track applicants who pass the 3rd round selection should notify their final choice of university to NIIED via email by December 22, 2023

※ Embassy track applicants who pass the 3rd round of selection cannot change their university choice after final admission is confirmed

– Among the successful candidates of the second round (university track) or the third round (embassy track), those who newly achieved TOPIK level 5 or 6 should send their TOPIK certificate to NIIED via email by December 22, 2023 

– NIIED will classify those who have obtained TOPIK level 5~6 as those who enter degree program. All other successful candidates will be arranged for a Korean language program 

※ TOPIK certificates from the 77th to the 91st exam will be recognized as valid certificates 

– NIIED will notify the list of final successful candidates to embassies and universities by early January

• The list of final successful candidates will also be announced on Study in Korea website (www.studyinkorea.go.kr) 

○ Final Successful Candidates will receive invitation letters and guidance on entry from NIIED

DOWNLOAD ALL GKS UG 2024 DOCUMENTS

For University Track application process, you need to go to the website of the university where you want to apply and follow their process. You can find the website and contact details of all the university in the documents (that you can download from the link above). Embassy track applications have been given below.

GKS UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP 2024 – EMBASSY TRACK INDIA

LAST DATE TO APPLY AND CONTACT DETAILS 

    Embassy track applicants must submit their scholarship applications no later than 4th October 2023 (Wednesday) to the below given address.

Mr. Jeon Chanho
Second Secretary
Political Affairs Department
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
9, Chandragupta Marg,
Chanakyapuri Extension,
New Delhi-110021
Phone: 011-4200-7000

Applicants are advised to read all the details very carefully and verify it once from the official website.

LINK: studyinkorea.go.kr