Studying in South Korea: Funding, Visas, and How the Money Works

Why Korea’s funding model looks different

Most guides to studying abroad assume you are choosing between scholarships offered by individual universities. South Korea is different. The single biggest funding route into the country is a government program, and it sits alongside a separate visa and health insurance system with its own deadlines and paperwork. If you are only comparing tuition costs, you are missing half of what determines whether you can actually afford to go.

The Global Korea Scholarship

The Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) is run by South Korea’s National Institute for International Education (NIIED), under the Ministry of Education, through the government’s Study in Korea portal. It is the scholarship most international students in Korea are on, and it runs on two separate application tracks: you apply either through a Korean embassy in your home country, or directly to a designated Korean university, not both.

Eligibility differs by level, and it’s worth being precise about this because the two tracks are easy to conflate. For the undergraduate track, you and both of your parents must hold non-Korean citizenship, you must be under 25 years old as of the applicable year, and you need a cumulative GPA of 80% or higher in your most recent program. The graduate track raises the age ceiling to under 40, with the same citizenship and GPA rules, and you must already hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree to apply.

What it pays for is where GKS earns the “fully funded” label this site reserves for a small number of programs: airfare, Korean-language training fees, tuition (paid directly to the university by NIIED rather than waived by the school), and a monthly living allowance. Kookmin University’s own admissions page, which reproduces the government-set GKS benefit table each host university uses, lists the current figures: a monthly allowance of 900,000 KRW, a one-time settlement and relocation allowance of 200,000 KRW, a semester research allowance of 210,000 KRW for humanities and social science scholars (240,000 KRW for natural and mechanical sciences), and a medical insurance subsidy of 20,000 KRW a month. Scholars who reach TOPIK Level 5 or 6 Korean proficiency also qualify for a 100,000 KRW monthly bonus on top of the base allowance. Treat these won amounts as a snapshot of a recent cycle rather than a permanent number: NIIED revises the guidelines periodically, and you should confirm the current figures against that cycle’s official notice before you budget around them.

For the 2026 cycle, the official Study in Korea site lists a total quota of roughly 500 undergraduate places (including associate degrees) and around 1,900 graduate places across both application tracks, with most GKS routes starting with a year of Korean-language training before the degree itself begins. One exception is the Global Network stream, a master’s-level specialization for humanities and social science departments working on global cooperation; it’s taught mainly in English and skips the language year entirely. If your Korean is not strong, this track is worth investigating before you assume a language year is unavoidable.

Application windows differ by track and are revised most years: the graduate track’s announcement period runs in February, while the undergraduate track’s announcement period runs in September. Do not assume a past cycle’s exact dates will repeat, and check the current GKS notice on the Study in Korea portal directly rather than a scholarship aggregator site, which is often a cycle behind.

Funding beyond GKS

GKS is competitive and covers a limited number of seats each year, so it’s worth treating it as one route rather than the only one. The Study in Korea portal’s own overview of university, foundation, and corporate scholarships states that “most universities provide scholarships covering 30-100% of tuition fees based on academic performance,” on top of or separate from GKS. Korean foundations and corporations also fund smaller, more specific programs: the Korea Foundation funds a KF Fellowship for Korean Studies graduate students (roughly 150 students worldwide a year, across more than 30 countries), and the POSCO TJ Park Foundation runs a scholarship specifically for Asian students. None of these is a substitute for checking a specific university’s own scholarship page once you have a program in mind, since the terms vary by school and by year.

If your undergraduate or graduate degree wasn’t taught in English or Korean, you will likely need to get it evaluated or translated before any of these applications can move forward. Worldwide Scholarships has a separate guide on getting academic documents translated and notarized correctly the first time, which is worth reading before you request transcripts from your home institution.

The D-2 student visa

Once you have an admission offer, the visa is a separate process, and it’s easy to underestimate how much of it depends on your university rather than the embassy. The Study in Korea portal’s own visa page lists the required documents for a D-2 visa: a copy of your passport, a passport-style photo, a copy of the university’s business registration certificate, a Standard Admission Letter issued by the university president or dean (not the same thing as a normal acceptance email), proof of your highest education level, and proof of financial ability. Depending on your case, you may also need documents proving a family relationship if a parent’s bank statement is being used to prove financial ability, and a tuberculosis test result.

Applications go to the head of a Korean diplomatic mission abroad, meaning an embassy, consulate general, or representative office in your home country. Visa fees, per the same official page, run from roughly $40 for a single-entry visa covering 90 days or less up to about $90 for a multiple-entry visa with no entry restrictions, with a $60 and $70 tier in between depending on stay duration and entry count.

The D-2 visa itself allows a stay of up to 2 years per issuance, with extensions available depending on your program: up to 6 years total for a bachelor’s degree, for example, or up to 5 years for a master’s. Within 90 days of entering Korea, you must complete alien registration to get the residence card you’ll need for almost everything else, from opening a bank account to signing a phone contract.

If your English test scores are a factor in your university admission rather than the visa itself, it’s worth comparing which test actually fits your target program before you book one; the site’s IELTS vs TOEFL guide walks through how scholarship committees and universities weigh the two differently.

Health insurance is not optional

International students in Korea have been required to join the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) scheme since March 1, 2021. NHIS’s own notification on this states it plainly: “International Students in Korea have become eligible for the National Health Insurance since March 1, 2021.” This is Korea’s public insurance system, separate from the smaller medical subsidy built into GKS, and premiums are billed monthly at a nationally set rate rather than negotiated individually the way a private international student policy might be. Confirm your specific current premium with your university’s international office or the NHIS English-language site, since the exact monthly cost is adjusted periodically.

Part-time work has real limits

A D-2 visa does not give you an automatic right to work. You need a separate part-time work permit from the local immigration office, and Korea’s own Study in Korea portal states the headline limit plainly: “Part-time work is limited to 30 hours per week for undergraduate students and 35 hours per week for graduate students,” with no restriction during weekends and vacation periods at that baseline. The same page also describes a more detailed, tiered system underneath that headline figure, where the exact hours you’re permitted depend on your Korean-language proficiency (measured by TOPIK level, the Social Integration Program, or the King Sejong Institute) and how far into your program you are, with higher caps available to students who meet stronger language or academic benchmarks. That tiered detail is genuinely intricate and changes over time, so rather than reproduce a specific weekday/weekend split that might be stale by the time you read this, confirm your own current allowance directly through HiKorea or your university’s international office before you accept any part-time work, and get the permit in place before your first shift, not after. Working beyond your approved hours, or without the permit at all, risks fines and possible deportation.

Before you apply

Check the current GKS notice for your degree level and application cycle, since quotas, tracks, and the benefit figures are revised periodically. Get a tuition quote from each specific university if you’re not funded by GKS, since public and private Korean universities each set their own rates. Start your Standard Admission Letter and alien registration paperwork as early as your university allows, since both sit on the critical path before you can legally register, insure yourself, or work part time in Korea. Even a fully funded route like GKS won’t cover everything you spend before your first allowance payment lands: visa fees, a security deposit if you’re renting off campus, and the gap between arriving and your first disbursement are worth budgeting for separately; the site’s guide to the hidden costs of applying is a useful gut check before you commit to a specific country.