GKS Scholarship 2027 for Indian Students

14 min read · Published on August 10, 2026 · Updated on August 12, 2026

The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) is a fully funded Korean government scholarship for international undergraduate and graduate students. It is run by the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) and pays tuition, Korean language training, airfare and a monthly allowance. A graduate scholar received 1,380,000 KRW a month in 2026, roughly ₹92,700 at the 10 August 2026 cross-rate calculated from RBI and Woori Bank references. Indian applicants should first choose between the Embassy and University tracks because the available universities and India allocations differ by study level.

Both 2026 cycles are now closed. NIIED published the undergraduate final result on 9 January 2026 and the graduate final result on 1 July 2026. The wider decision about studying in South Korea as an Indian student includes the D-2 visa and real costs. As of 10 August 2026, the 2027 applicant guidelines aren’t announced, so every quota, benefit and cut-off below is a 2026 planning reference. Your next decision is the application track, and the stronger route is different for undergraduate and graduate applicants.

Embassy Track or University Track, and why the answer flips at graduate level

Undergraduates need the Embassy Track to apply to major research universities, while graduate applicants can use either track and had a larger India allocation through the University Track in 2026. GKS permits only one route. The official Study in Korea scholarship page separates Embassy Track applications from applications sent directly to a designated university. Applying through both routes disqualifies you, and a later discovery cancels the selection.

Multiple applications will result in disqualification. If discovered after selection, admission will be cancelled.
Embassy of the Republic of Korea, 2026 GKS Graduate guidelines notice

Decision factor	Embassy Track	University Track
Universities you may choose	Up to three, and at least one must be a Type B (regional) university	One university, one department
Selection rounds	Three (embassy, then NIIED, then the universities)	Two (university, then NIIED)
How selection is organised	The embassy reviews applicants in India against India’s fixed quota	The chosen university reviews applicants for one programme under NIIED’s published allocations
Where you apply	Through the Korean Embassy in India	Direct to the university

At undergraduate level, the University Track excludes the major research universities in this comparison. The 2026 GKS-U University Track covered 13 University for International Cooperation (UIC) institutions and 9 associate-degree colleges. Seoul National University, Yonsei, Korea University, POSTECH, Sungkyunkwan and Hanyang are all Embassy Track only for undergraduate study. KAIST is not a GKS participating university in either track for 2026. When choosing three Embassy Track options, compare the programme language in the major South Korean universities before fixing the list.

POSTECH states the split plainly on its own pages. Its graduate GKS page describes both tracks and confirms POSTECH is a designated University Track university. Its undergraduate GKS page is labelled Embassy Track only. Same university, opposite answers, depending on your level.

At graduate level, the University Track includes a much broader university list and held 47 places in India’s 2026 allocation, compared with 26 through the Embassy Track. Sungkyunkwan runs a GKS Graduate University Track. Hanyang runs both undergraduate and graduate GKS, as does POSTECH. Funding for master’s and doctoral study in South Korea can also come from university scholarships and assistantships outside GKS.

How many GKS seats does India actually get?

India’s 2026 allocation was 4 undergraduate Embassy Track places and 73 graduate places, split between 26 Embassy Track and 47 University Track places. NIIED publishes these figures inside the guideline PDFs rather than in the embassy notice text.

Level	Embassy Track	University Track	Total
Undergraduate (GKS-U)	4 (2 General, 2 regional)	No India quota. Open to all countries, but only the 13 UIC and 9 associate colleges	4 through the embassy
Graduate (GKS-G)	26	47 (5 General, 42 regional)	73

Forty-two of the 47 graduate University Track places were regional GKS places at Type B universities, the regional category used in the programme guidelines.

India had four undergraduate seats in 2026. The Korean Education Centre in New Delhi interviewed twelve applicants on 23 October 2025, six General and six Regional, and then shortlisted four. The undergraduate quota rose from 1 seat in 2025 to 4 in 2026, but it remained a small selection pool.

If you fail the Embassy Track first round, you may then apply to the University Track. NIIED staggered the University Track schedule to allow this, but successful candidates and reserves cannot switch. For undergraduates in 2026, the embassy result appeared on 27 October and the University Track closed on 31 October, leaving four days. Graduate university deadlines ran from February to April, around the mid-March embassy result.

NIIED also reports how many applicants passed the second round and were then rejected by all three chosen universities, which ended their selection. The count was 52 in 2020, 53 in 2021, 57 in 2022, 52 in 2023 and 86 in 2024. The Type A and Type B mix therefore changes the risk of receiving no university acceptance after the NIIED round.

What does the GKS scholarship actually pay for in 2026?

GKS covers tuition, the language year, airfare and a monthly allowance. The 2026 figures below come from the official 2026 GKS-U notice for India and the official 2026 GKS-G notice for India. NIIED changed how several benefits are packaged in the 2026 cycle.

Benefit	GKS-U (undergraduate)	GKS-G (graduate)
Tuition, per semester	NIIED pays up to 5,000,000 KRW. The university pays anything above that, plus the admission fee	NIIED pays up to 5,000,000 KRW. The 2026 GKS-G guideline does not identify who pays any amount above the cap, so confirm this with the university
Korean language training	5,200,000 KRW (four quarters)	5,200,000 KRW (four quarters)
Airfare	Economy, actual expense	Economy, actual expense
Monthly allowance, language year	12,840,000 KRW a year (1,070,000 a month)	14,400,000 KRW a year (1,200,000 a month)
Monthly allowance, degree year	13,680,000 KRW a year (1,140,000 a month)	16,560,000 KRW a year (1,380,000 a month)

The graduate rate is the same for Master’s and Doctoral study. A Research Programme place pays 20,880,000 KRW a year with no tuition or language component.

In 2026, NIIED stopped itemising the settlement allowance, degree completion grant, health insurance and TOPIK fee grant. The guidelines describe the monthly allowance as an all-inclusive subsidy covering those items. A separate 200,000 KRW settlement allowance belongs to an older benefit structure.

The airfare and repayment exclusions affect the amount a selected student actually receives.

Entry airfare is not paid to scholars already living in Korea when the final result is announced
It is not paid if you fly in from a country other than your citizenship
Domestic travel inside India to reach your departure airport is not covered, nor is travel insurance
Withdrawing within three months of enrolment means repaying everything, including airfare, allowance and tuition

The graduate guidelines add the caveat that amounts are “subject to budget availability.”

Are you eligible for GKS as an Indian applicant?

You are eligible only if you meet the age and degree rules, clear the 80%, accepted-CGPA or top-20% class-rank academic threshold, and you and both parents are non-Korean citizens. You must also be in good health, and your Korean study or previous GKS history must not trigger an exclusion. For 2026, undergraduate applicants had to be under 25 and graduate applicants under 40, with a higher limit for eligible academic professors. The current government eligibility summary confirms the age rules, while the exact birth date changes with each cycle.

Undergraduate: under 25, meaning born after 1 March 2001 for the 2026 cycle
Graduate: under 40, meaning born after 1 September 1986
Graduate, if you are a current academic professor: under 45, because India is on the DAC list of ODA recipient countries, which raises the cap

Beyond age, you and both your parents must be non-Korean citizens. Dual citizenship including Korean makes you ineligible. You must be in good health, and you must not have studied in Korea before in specific ways. Graduates of Korean high schools or universities are excluded, including international schools inside Korea and online Korean curricula.

Former GKS degree scholars cannot reapply, and neither can anyone whose scholarship was cancelled, or who withdrew or was disqualified in the last three years. There is a useful exception though. Former non-degree, exchange, and IRTS language-only scholars can apply. If you did a semester exchange in Korea on a GKS non-degree grant, you are still eligible for the full degree scholarship.

Undergraduate applicants who already hold a bachelor’s degree cannot apply to GKS-U. Associate degree holders can.

How do you convert an Indian CGPA or percentage to the GKS requirement?

You need at least 80% on a 100-point scale, a CGPA at one of NIIED’s listed scale floors, or a class rank in the top 20%. NIIED accepts any one of these routes, and the official GKS eligibility page confirms the 80% floor.

The GKS minimum on each accepted scale

80% or above on a 100-point scale, or ranked in the top 20% of your class
2.64 out of 4.0
2.80 out of 4.3
2.91 out of 4.5
3.23 out of 5.0

Worked example. An Indian student with 76% aggregate in a B.Tech doesn’t meet the 80% bar directly. But if that 76% placed them in the top 15% of their batch, they qualify on the class-rank route instead, and they need their college to certify the rank in writing. Two students with identical marks can have opposite outcomes here depending on whether their institution will issue a rank certificate.

Most Indian universities report a CGPA out of 10, which is not one of NIIED’s listed scales. Appendix A of the 2026 guidelines carries the official conversion table for 4.0, 4.3, 4.5, 5.0 and 100-point scales. The 10-point scale is absent.

An applicant with a 10-point CGPA must therefore submit a converted transcript. The guidelines state that a conversion printed from a site such as Scholaro or WES is valid only when the applicant’s institution officially confirms and authenticates it. A WES printout on its own is rejected. Request the university stamp early. The conversion does not need an apostille, but it must be an original carrying the institution’s authentication.

The Korean language year, and how TOPIK Level 5 removes it

The standard funded programme includes one Korean language year followed by the degree period. A master’s is funded for one language year plus two degree years, a doctorate for one plus three, and a bachelor’s for one plus four to six. Applicants who submit TOPIK Level 5 or 6 are exempt from the Korean language programme and start their degree immediately, as the official notice for successful 2026 GKS-U candidates confirms.

Scholars who reach TOPIK Level 5 or 6 within the first six months of the language year are exempt from the remaining six months and begin their degree the following semester.

All GKS scholars must reach TOPIK Level 3 to proceed to their degree, and some departments require Level 4. If a scholar does not meet the requirement and cannot enrol, the scholarship is cancelled. Neither 2026 guideline describes an extension mechanism.

At the application stage, TOPIK Level 3 or above adds points worth 10% of the total allocated score. NIIED also scores submitted language evidence on the scale below.

Language-evidence points awarded	TOPIK level	TOEFL iBT score	IELTS band
100%	Level 5 or 6	Not applicable	Not applicable
90%	Level 4	114 and above	8.0 and above
80%	Level 3	95 and above	7.0 and above
70%	Level 2	72 and above	6.0 and above
60%	Level 1	42 and above	5.0 and above

Submitting a language test is optional. If you submit nothing, your personal statement and study plan are reviewed instead. If you submit two, only the highest counts. Notice that only TOPIK reaches 100%, an IELTS 8.0 caps at 90%, so Korean is worth more than English even at a very high band.

Other published additions apply to specific applicants. A science or engineering department adds 5%. Direct descendants of Korean War veterans receive 5% at undergraduate level and 10% at graduate level. NIIED also gives an evaluation preference to science and engineering applicants at Type B regional universities, which are used for 42 of India’s 47 graduate University Track places.

The TOPIK exam in India runs on limited fixed dates, so a Level 5 plan must account for registration and result timing before the GKS deadline.

Which documents need an apostille, and when?

First-round applications use the document form specified by the embassy or university, while certificates sent to NIIED in the second round require apostille or the permitted consular confirmation. India and Korea are both parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so apostille is the normal Indian route.

The first round does not need apostilles. You upload scans or submit the form specified by the embassy or university. In the second round, graduate academic records use apostille, while GKS-U permits consular confirmation for the high school graduation certificate and transcript. Begin authentication after clearing round one so the documents can reach NIIED on time.

The Indian process runs through the Ministry of External Affairs and has been decentralised since 2019.

State authentication at a Regional Authentication Centre, usually your state’s HRD or Higher Education department
Deposit with an authorised agency (BLS International, Superb Enterprises, IVS Global or Alhind)
Collection, with the MEA charging Rs 50 per apostille sticker and the agency charging about Rs 84 per document plus Rs 3 per page

The MEA states plainly that it does not legalise photocopies. Nor does NIIED accept photocopies or notarised copies of apostilled documents, though a certified true copy from a Korean embassy or the issuing authority is fine. If a digital certificate is issued electronically, it still needs an apostille.

The provisional certificate problem. The graduate guidelines state that a provisional certificate is not accepted as a graduation certificate “even if it is acknowledged as an official graduation certificate in your own country.” Indian universities hand out provisional certificates routinely and the real degree can follow a year later. For GKS-G this is disqualifying. GKS-U is softer and treats a provisional as evidence of expected graduation. Do not assume the graduate rule matches the undergraduate one.

The GKS-G guidelines do not offer the undergraduate consular-confirmation option. Graduate academic records therefore need the apostille route described above.

When does GKS 2027 open?

It isn’t announced yet, and any exact 2027 applicant date published before NIIED’s notice is only a forecast. The only 2027 document available by 10 August 2026 is a NIIED survey asking certified universities whether they want to host GKS undergraduates, posted on 22 June with a 17 July 2026 response deadline. The survey recruits host universities, not applicants.

Based on the published pattern rather than a promise, GKS-U opens around mid-September and GKS-G around mid-February. For the 2026 cycle, undergraduate applications ran 15 September to 17 October 2025 and graduate applications ran 12 to 25 February 2026. From the first application day to the final result, the undergraduate cycle took nearly four months and the graduate cycle about four and a half months.

The 2026 undergraduate cycle was disrupted when a fire at Korea’s National Information Resources Service took the online application system down. NIIED switched the selection to offline applications, moved the deadline from 30 September to 17 October, and told applicants who had applied online to resubmit because the data could not be restored. The Korean Embassy in India’s notice page still carries the superseded pre-fire PDF, while the later NIIED guideline on studyinkorea.go.kr records the controlling 2026 process.

NIIED states that repeated scholarship renunciations can reduce a country’s quota in a later cycle. This rule affects future country allocations, but it does not change a selected applicant’s right to decline the award.

Key takeaways

The best track changes by level. Undergraduates need the Embassy Track for SNU, Yonsei, Korea University, POSTECH, SKKU or Hanyang, because the GKS-U University Track covers only 13 UIC and 9 associate colleges. Graduates can compare a much broader University Track.
India gets 4 undergraduate seats and 73 graduate seats (26 embassy, 47 university). Twelve Indians were interviewed for those four undergraduate places in 2026.
The 2026 monthly allowance is 1,380,000 KRW for a graduate degree year, and it now includes settlement, insurance and completion grants that used to be listed separately.
TOPIK Level 5 removes the mandatory language year and saves you twelve months. TOPIK Level 3 is the floor to proceed at all, and missing it cancels the scholarship.
An Indian CGPA out of 10 is not on NIIED’s conversion table. Your converted transcript must be authenticated by your own university, because a WES or Scholaro printout alone is rejected.
Provisional certificates are disqualifying for GKS-G but acceptable as expected-graduation evidence for GKS-U.
Indian academics get the graduate age cap raised from 40 to 45, plus an evaluation preference, because India is on the DAC ODA list.

Frequently asked questions

What is the GKS scholarship and what does it cover?

GKS is the Korean government’s fully funded scholarship run by NIIED. It covers tuition up to 5,000,000 KRW, a year of Korean language training worth 5,200,000 KRW, economy airfare, and a monthly allowance of 1,380,000 KRW for graduate degree study or 1,140,000 KRW for undergraduate.

Should an Indian student apply to GKS through the Embassy or University Track?

It depends on your level. Undergraduates should use the Embassy Track, since the University Track covers only 13 UIC and 9 associate colleges, not SNU or Yonsei. Graduate applicants should consider the University Track, which holds 47 of India’s 73 graduate seats against the Embassy Track’s 26.

What CGPA do you need for GKS?

You need 80% on a 100-point scale, or a top 20% class rank, or 2.64 out of 4.0, 2.80 out of 4.3, 2.91 out of 4.5, or 3.23 out of 5.0. Indian CGPA-out-of-10 is not on NIIED’s list, so you must submit a conversion authenticated by your own university.

Can you skip the GKS Korean language year?

Yes. Submitting TOPIK Level 5 or 6 with your application exempts you from the one-year Korean language programme entirely, so you start your degree immediately. Reaching Level 5 within the first six months of the language year also exempts you from the remaining six months.

Is there an age limit for GKS?

Yes. Undergraduate applicants must be under 25, and graduate applicants under 40. Current academic professors from ODA recipient countries get until 45, and India is on that DAC list, so Indian academics aged 40 to 44 remain eligible for graduate GKS.

When will GKS 2027 applications open?

NIIED had not announced 2027 applications by 10 August 2026. Its published cycle pattern places undergraduate applications around September and graduate applications around February. For 2026, the undergraduate cycle ran from 15 September to 17 October 2025 after an extension, while graduate applications ran from 12 to 25 February 2026.

Can you apply to GKS twice or through both tracks?

No. Applying to both tracks disqualifies you and the scholarship is revoked if it is found later. However, applicants who fail the Embassy Track first round may then apply to the University Track, which NIIED deliberately scheduled later to permit this. Successful candidates and reserves cannot switch.

Does a provisional certificate work for a GKS application?

Not for graduate GKS. The 2026 guidelines state that a provisional certificate isn’t accepted as a graduation certificate even if your country treats it as official. Undergraduate GKS is more lenient and accepts it as evidence of expected graduation. Indian applicants therefore need to request the final degree certificate early.

GKS 2027: Global Korea Scholarship for Indian Students