KOICA Scholarship Program for Developing Countries

The KOICA Scholarship Program provides opportunities for people from developing countries to undertake full-time postgraduate study related to development at participating Korean Universities, in line with Korea’s bilateral aid program.

Participating Korean Universities

Field(s) of study targeted to address agreed development needs of partner countries, such as International Development, Women and Development, Public Policy, Fishery Science, Agriculture and Rural Development, etc.,  in line with Korea’s bilateral aid program.

See the list of eligible programs in 2015 at the official website.

Not specified.

Asia: Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, East Timor, Pakistan, Afghanistan

Africa: Sudan, Madagascar, Morocco, Algeria, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda, Libya, Gabon, and Mozambique

Americas: Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Colombia, Haiti, Costa Rica, Panama, Uruguay, and Venezuela

Middle East: Yemen, Jordan, Iran, Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon

Oceania: Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea

Eastern Europe Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadzhikistan, Belarus, and Serbia

KOICA provides a wide range of benefits covering living expenses while in Korea for the minimum period required to complete the program. The benefits include air travel fare, full tuition fees, accommodation, living allowance, textbooks and materials, study visits, field trips, etc., medical checkup after entry into the program, overseas traveler’s health insurance.

Applicants must:

– Be a government official, an employee in the public sector, or a researcher in a state institute working in his/her home country with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

– Be nominated by his or her government.

– Have sufficient command of both spoken & written English to take classes conducted entirely in English and to write academic reports and a thesis in English.

– Have a positive attitude and a strong will to get adjusted to a multicultural environment and to understand the hosting country’s culture.

– Have good moral characteristics to endure student life on campus.

– Be in good health, both physically and mentally, to undergo the program.

* Pregnancy is regarded as a disqualifying condition for participating in this program.

* Having tuberculosis or any kind of contagious disease is regarded as a disqualifying condition for participation in this program.

– Have not previously received a scholarship or participated in a scholarship program, including a KOICA Scholarship Program, from the Korean government.

In addition to the above general eligibility criteria, applicants must also meet specific eligibility criteria imposed by each course. Please refer to the “Program Information” of each program. Applicants will also need to satisfy all requirements of the Korea Immigration Service.

Please consult with the relevant person on KOICA’s Scholarship Program in your country’s government and the Korean Embassy (or your local KOICA Regional Office) in your country before applying. After being nominated by his/her government, the applicant should submit the application package to the KOICA office or the Embassy of Korea in his/her country. KOICA Headquarters receives applications only through diplomatic channels, which means that one cannot send application documents directly to KOICA Headquarters or universities.  The deadline varies depending on the course but is around March-June 2015.

It is important to visit the official website (link found below) to access the application forms and for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.