Before applying for the Global Korea Scholarship, the first thing you should check is whether you meet the official GKS Scholarship 2027 Eligibility requirements.
The good news is that the eligibility criteria are quite simple. You mainly need to check 6 things: nationality, age, education, graduation date, grades, and health.
Below is the GKS Scholarship 2027 Eligibility criteria based on the official 2027 GKS Undergraduate Application Guidelines.
1. Nationality Requirement
To meet the GKS Scholarship 2027 Eligibility requirements:
- You must be a citizen of a country designated by NIIED for the GKS program.
- Your parents or legal guardians must not be Korean citizens.
- If you or your parent has dual citizenship that includes Korean citizenship, you are not eligible.
- Former Korean citizens must provide official proof that their Korean citizenship was renounced.
- The UIC Program is open to applicants from countries worldwide, except Korea.
Want to understand the complete scholarship, application tracks, quotas and deadlines? Read our complete GKS Scholarship 2027 guide.
2. Age Limit
The age requirement is very straightforward:
You must be under 25 years old.
For GKS Scholarship 2027, you must be:
Born after March 1, 2002.
3. Education Requirements
The education requirement depends on which degree you want to pursue.
Bachelor’s Degree
You can apply if you:
- Graduated from high school, or
- Are expected to graduate from high school, or
- Graduated or are expected to graduate from an associate degree program.
Associate Degree
You can apply if you:
- Graduated from high school, or
- Are expected to graduate from high school.
Important: If you already have a bachelor’s degree, you cannot apply for GKS Undergraduate.
If you have an associate degree, you can apply only for a bachelor’s degree program.
4. Expected Graduation Date
Students who have not graduated yet can still apply for the GKS Scholarship 2027.
However, you must graduate by:
December 31, 2026
You need to submit an Expected Graduation Certificate when applying.
If you pass the first selection round, your final graduation certificate and transcript must be submitted by December 31, 2026. Otherwise, your acceptance will be cancelled.
5. GPA Requirements
To meet the GKS Scholarship 2027 Eligibility criteria, you need to satisfy at least ONE of the following academic requirements:
| Grade System | Minimum Requirement |
|---|---|
| Percentage | 80% or higher |
| Class Ranking | Top 20% |
| 4.0 GPA Scale | 2.64 / 4.0 |
| 4.3 GPA Scale | 2.80 / 4.3 |
| 4.5 GPA Scale | 2.91 / 4.5 |
| 5.0 GPA Scale | 3.23 / 5.0 |
You only need to meet one of these requirements, not all of them.
If your transcript uses a different grading system, your school or university must provide official documentation explaining the grading system.
The GKS Scholarship covers much more than tuition. You can also check our GKS Scholarship 2027 Benefits guide to see the monthly allowance, airfare, tuition and other benefits.
6. Health Requirements
Applicants must be:
- In good physical health
- In good mental health
- Able to complete the full scholarship program in Korea
- Eligible for overseas travel
The official guidelines also state that applicants must have no grounds for disqualification, such as a criminal history that prevents overseas travel.
Who CANNOT Apply for GKS Scholarship 2027?
Even if you meet the age and GPA requirements, you may be ineligible in certain situations.
You cannot apply if:
- You graduated or are expected to graduate from a high school in Korea, including an international school in Korea.
- You graduated or are expected to graduate from a Korean associate degree program.
- You completed an online curriculum offered by a school or university located in Korea.
- You are currently in your final year at a high school or university located in Korea.
- You already have a bachelor’s degree.
- You previously received a Korean government scholarship for a degree program, subject to the specific exceptions in the guidelines.
- You received a degree scholarship from another Korean government agency.
- You were selected as a GKS degree scholar but withdrew or were disqualified within the recent three years.
Previous recipients of the GKS Non-degree Exchange Student Program or IRTS Korean Language Program can apply.
7. Can You Apply for Embassy Track and University Track Together?
No.
For Embassy Track, you must choose only one program:
- General
- R-GKS
- Overseas Koreans & Adoptees
For University Track, you must choose only one program, either UIC or Associate Degree, and apply to one university and one department.
If you pass the Embassy Track first round, including as a backup candidate, you cannot apply again through University Track.
However, if you fail the Embassy Track first round, you may apply through University Track if the university’s deadline is still open.
Once you confirm your eligibility, the next step is preparing your application documents. See our GKS Scholarship 2027 Required Documents checklist.
GKS Scholarship 2027 Eligibility at a Glance
| Requirement | Eligibility |
|---|---|
| Age | Under 25 |
| Date of Birth | After March 1, 2002 |
| Minimum Grade | 80% or above |
| Alternative Grade Requirement | Top 20% of class or required CGPA |
| Expected Graduation | By December 31, 2026 |
| Bachelor’s Applicant | High school or associate degree graduate |
| Associate Applicant | High school graduate |
| Already Have Bachelor’s Degree | ? Not Eligible |
| Korean Dual Citizenship | ? Not Eligible |
| Health | Good physical and mental health |
Final Words
The GKS Scholarship 2027 Eligibility requirements are easy to check. Before starting your application, remember these 6 main requirements:
Nationality + Age + Education + Graduation Date + Grades + Health
If you meet these basic requirements and none of the restrictions apply to you, you can proceed with preparing your GKS Scholarship 2027 application.
Meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee selection. The official evaluation first checks eligibility and then assesses applicants based on factors including academic performance, language proficiency, academic activities, contributions to society and international exchange, future potential, and the completeness and authenticity of the submitted documents.
For more information and updates, visit www.gksscholarship.com.
You can download the important documents by clicking the following links:
