CYCLE STATUS — checked 23 September 2026. The Spring 2027 round is CLOSED: it ran 18 August → 1 September 2026. The next window is the Fall 2027 Early Track, which in the previous year opened on 2 December and closed on 16 December (recommendation letters about two weeks later) — so prepare for early December 2026. The Fall 2027 regular round follows in about March 2027.
The KAIST Scholarship is NOT a separate scholarship you apply to. You select the KAIST Scholarship option on the ordinary admission application and you are considered automatically — there is no standalone scholarship application, and looking for one wastes time. KAIST also states that admission and scholarship decisions are made independently, so being admitted without the scholarship is possible.
It is NOT the same thing as GKS. GKS is a Korean government (NIIED) scholarship with its own separate application — through a university track or an embassy track — and its own timeline, set by NIIED and not by KAIST. KAIST also hosts GKS students, which is exactly why the two get confused. Applying to one is not applying to the other.
The graduate application carries a USD 80 non-refundable fee, paid by credit card or international bank transfer. Waivers exist for nationals of UN Least Developed Countries and for top-5%-ranked applicants with a department head's recommendation. The waiver is reportedly a separate short window that closes BEFORE the main application opens (for Spring 2026 it ran 28 July → 4 August 2025, about three weeks ahead of the round) — so check the notice board and apply for it early, not at payment time.
Self-funded applicants must demonstrate a minimum bank balance of USD 16,000 for visa purposes. This is a separate requirement from the scholarship: it is what the visa process asks for, and it is checked at the application stage.
Everything on this page beyond "an undergraduate KAIST Scholarship option exists" describes the GRADUATE cycle. Undergraduate dates, figures and eligibility could not be verified on KAIST's own pages, so they are not stated here. If you are applying for a Bachelor's, read the undergraduate application guide at https://admission.kaist.ac.kr/intl-undergraduate rather than assuming the graduate rules carry over.
Level
Bachelor · Master's · Master's–PhD Integrated · PhD · MBA
Apply via
The ordinary KAIST admission application — tick the KAIST Scholarship option; there is no separate scholarship form
Base scholarship: varies by department and advisor · KGPS 1,000,000 ₩/mo · KPS 300,000 ₩/mo
Language
Taught in English — no TOPIK. TOEFL iBT 83 (taken before 21 Jan 2026) or 4.5 (taken on/after 21 Jan 2026) · IELTS 6.5 · TOEIC 720 · TEPS 326
Covers
Full tuition · National Health Insurance premium · a monthly stipend. KAIST says it reaches about 94% of its international students.
Deadline
Spring 2027 graduate: CLOSED (ran 18 Aug → 1 Sep 2026; results reported for 18 Dec 2026). Next: Fall 2027 Early Track, expected early December 2026 — not yet announced
Important
USD 80 non-refundable application fee · self-funded applicants must show a USD 16,000 bank balance for the visa
When it usually opens
Usual months
Three times a year — an Early Track around early December, the regular Fall round around March, and the Spring round in the second half of August
How long it stays open
About two weeks each time, with recommendation letters due about a week after the form itself closes.
There is no separate scholarship form — you apply for admission and the funding follows it, so the admission calendar above is the only one you need to watch.
A pattern from past cycles, not a date to apply by. Always check the official page before you plan around it.
Application windows
Fall intake · Early Track
The earliest of the three windows, about nine months before the semester starts. For Fall 2026 it ran 2 December (10:00 KST) → 16 December 2025 (17:00 KST), with recommendation letters due 29 December 2025. Expect early December for Fall 2027.
Autumn intake
Usually opens at the start of March and stays open about two weeks. Recommendation letters are due about a week after the form closes.
Spring intake
Opens in the second half of August and stays open about two weeks. The Spring 2027 round (now closed) ran 18 August (10:00 KST) → 1 September 2026 (17:00 KST), recommendation letters 8 September, decision 18 December 2026 — as reported by the Korean Education Centre India and Chiang Mai University; KAIST's own notice page could not be opened to confirm. ⚠️ Read off past cycles, not published as a schedule — confirm on the official site
Overview
KAIST is Korea's leading science and engineering research university, teaching Bachelor's, Master's, Master's–PhD Integrated, PhD and MBA programmes largely in English. Its own KAIST Scholarship — funded by KAIST, not by the Korean government — is the main way international students are funded, and KAIST says it reaches about 94% of its international student body. It is not a stand-alone programme with its own application: you are considered for it automatically when you select the scholarship option on the regular admission application. Because KAIST also hosts Global Korea Scholarship students, the two are often confused — they are separate schemes with separate applications and separate timelines.
Who can apply
You must not hold Korean citizenship. Dual citizens holding Korean nationality are ineligible. Applicants of Korean ethnicity may qualify only if their parents renounced Korean citizenship, or if the applicant completed their entire K-12 education outside Korea.
Master's applicants need a Bachelor's degree (or higher) from an accredited institution equivalent to a 4-year Korean Bachelor's. Doctoral applicants need a Master's degree or higher.
English proficiency: TOEFL iBT 83 if taken before 21 January 2026, or 4.5 (new 1–6 band scale) if taken on or after 21 January 2026; IELTS Academic 6.5; TOEIC 720; or TEPS 326. MyBest scores and IELTS One Skill Retake are not accepted. Scores must be valid (two years) as of the online application deadline. Waivers exist for nationals and graduates of English-medium countries and for graduates of KAIST's regular programmes.
No blanket minimum GPA is stated for general graduate admission — the academic record is judged as a whole. A 3.13/4.3 figure appears on KAIST's general scholarship page, but that page looks domestic-student-oriented and its relevance to international applicants is unconfirmed.
A USD 80 non-refundable application fee, with waivers for nationals of UN Least Developed Countries and for top-5%-ranked applicants holding a department head's recommendation.
Self-funded applicants: proof of a bank balance of at least USD 16,000, required for the visa.
What it covers
Full tuition coverage: 4 semesters for a Master's, 10 semesters for the Master's–PhD Integrated programme, 8 semesters for a PhD.
A monthly stipend from the base institutional scholarship. There is no single published figure: the amount depends on your department, your advisor and whether you hold a research or teaching assistantship. Ask the department you are applying to.
KAIST Global Presidential Scholarship (KGPS): 1,000,000 ₩ per month for 4 regular semesters, for Master's and Integrated students. Highly competitive and awarded on a department head's recommendation.
KAIST Prestige Scholarship (KPS): 300,000 ₩ per month for 8 regular semesters, for Integrated and PhD students, selected by the college dean.
Full coverage of the National Health Insurance premium.
Two further schemes exist but are separate partnership programmes, not the general institutional scholarship: Global EPSS with Samsung (USD 1,000–1,500 per month plus a guaranteed Samsung employment pathway) and GT-TEP (full coverage plus round-trip airfare, restricted to AfCFTA and ASEAN government-affiliated employees).
Financial support
Base scholarship · tuition
Full — 4 semesters (Master's), 10 (Integrated), 8 (PhD)
Base scholarship · stipend
No single published figure — varies by department, advisor and RA/TA duties
Standard departments 9,559,000 ₩/semester · Management Engineering 7,004,000 ₩ · Digital Innovation 4,800,000 ₩ · MBA 14,000,000 ₩ · Finance MBA 16,200,000 ₩
Living costs not covered
≈5,350,000 ₩ per 6 months (dorm, food, transport, books, insurance) · dormitory ≈115,000 ₩/month in Daejeon, ≈160,000 ₩/month in Seoul
Application fee · financial proof
USD 80, non-refundable (waivers exist) · self-funded applicants must show USD 16,000 for the visa
How to apply — step by step
Choose your programme and open the online application Apply at gradapply.kaist.ac.kr, select your programme and track, enter your personal details and upload ID documents for yourself and both parents, a family registration certificate and your financial-resources documentation.
Enter academic background and nominate recommenders Add your academic history, English test scores and work experience, upload transcripts and degree certificates, and nominate up to 3 recommenders (Master's) or one advisor contact (PhD / Integrated).
Write the Statement of Purpose Four required short-answer prompts of 500 bytes each, plus two optional ones. The byte limit is tight — write the answer first, then cut.
Upload your CV and supporting evidence A CV is required. Awards, publications and other achievement documents are optional but they are where a research application gains weight.
Select the KAIST Scholarship option and pay the fee This is the whole of the "scholarship application": ticking the option on the admission form. Then review everything and pay the USD 80 non-refundable fee by card or international transfer.
Document screening and interview The admissions office screens documents, and departments hold interviews where they require them. In the Fall 2026 cycle screening ran to 7 May and interviews from 8 May to 2 June.
Decision — admission and scholarship together You are told your admission result and, if awarded, your scholarship tier in the same notification. There is no separate scholarship result to wait for — but remember that the two decisions are made independently.
Required documents
Applicant's passport or ID Identity verification. KAIST asks for the ID number to be redacted on the copy.
Parents' ID documents and family registration certificate These are what prove the "not a Korean citizen" rule, including the exception for applicants of Korean ethnicity — so they are checked carefully.
Degree certificate A certified copy of the Bachelor's (Master's applicants) or Master's (doctoral applicants) degree.
Official academic transcripts Must show your GPA and explain the grading scale — KAIST cannot read a bare number without knowing what it is out of.
English proficiency test report TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC or TEPS — or the documentation that supports your waiver if you qualify for one.
CV / résumé Required, not optional — it is where research experience is read from.
Two recommendation letters Submitted online by the recommenders themselves, not by you. Nominate them early — in the Fall 2026 cycle the letters were due a week after the application closed.
Proof of financial resources Self-funded applicants show a bank balance of at least USD 16,000 — this is a visa requirement, checked at application time.
Work experience certificates(optional) If applicable to your background.
Proof of honours and awards(optional) Optional supporting evidence. Note that all documents not in English or Korean need a notarized translation.
Useful guides & documents
G-MAX Application Guide · International Graduate · 2026 Fall (2026 Fall) The official KAIST guide the document list, tuition figures and process details on this page come from. It is the Fall 2026 edition — a newer Spring 2027 guide was since published on KAIST's notice board (notice #2237) and that round has closed; use this one to learn the shape of the process and take actual dates from the Fall 2027 guide once KAIST posts it.
Graduate admission notice board The page to check before trusting any date on this entry. The Spring 2027 dates here come from reposts of KAIST notice #2237 by education-centre and partner-university pages, and the Fall 2027 Early Track notice will appear here first.
Yearly admission timelines KAIST's own record of past Spring and Fall windows — this is what supports the "Spring opens in August" pattern (2025 Spring: 22 Aug – 12 Sep 2024; 2024 Spring: 24 Aug – 14 Sep 2023).
Frequently asked questions
Is the KAIST Scholarship the same as GKS?
No. The KAIST Scholarship is KAIST's own money and is considered automatically with your regular admission application. GKS is a Korean government (NIIED) scholarship with its own application — university track or embassy track — and its own annual timeline. KAIST hosts GKS students too, which is why the names get mixed up.
Do I apply separately for the scholarship?
No. Select the KAIST Scholarship option on your regular admission application and you are considered automatically. No standalone scholarship application exists.
Can I be admitted without getting the scholarship?
Yes. KAIST states that admission and scholarship decisions are made independently. Most admitted international students do receive it — KAIST puts the figure at about 94% — but it is not automatic in the sense of guaranteed.
What is the difference between KGPS and KPS?
They are named tiers on top of the base scholarship. KGPS gives 1,000,000 ₩ a month for 4 regular semesters to Master's and Integrated students, on a department head's recommendation. KPS gives 300,000 ₩ a month for 8 regular semesters to Integrated and PhD students, selected by the college dean.
Do I need TOPIK or Korean?
No. KAIST teaches its international programmes largely in English and asks for an English test instead: TOEFL iBT 83 (taken before 21 January 2026) or 4.5 (taken on or after 21 January 2026), IELTS Academic 6.5, TOEIC 720 or TEPS 326, with waivers for English-medium nationals and graduates.
When does the next graduate intake open?
Spring 2027 is closed — it ran 18 August to 1 September 2026, with results reported for 18 December 2026. The next intake is the Fall 2027 Early Track, expected to open in early December 2026 (the Fall 2026 Early Track ran 2–16 December 2025), followed by the Fall 2027 regular round in about March 2027. Neither has been announced yet, so watch https://admission.kaist.ac.kr/intl-graduate/Admission/Notice for the exact dates.
How much money do I need to show for the visa?
Self-funded applicants must demonstrate a bank balance of at least USD 16,000 (graduate cycle). This is separate from the USD 80 application fee.
Is there an undergraduate version?
Yes — KAIST runs a separate international undergraduate admission track with its own KAIST Scholarship option. But its dates, figures and eligibility could not be verified on KAIST's own pages, so none are quoted here. Read https://admission.kaist.ac.kr/intl-undergraduate directly.
Chiang Mai University international office — repost of KAIST notice #2237 with the Spring 2027 dates. A partner university, not KAIST; corroborated by the Korean Education Centre India, but KAIST's own notice page could not be opened, so the window stays marked unconfirmed. https://ird.oou.cmu.ac.th/kaist-spring-graduate-admissions-2027/
Korean Education Centre India — second repost of the KAIST Spring 2027 notice: 18 Aug → 1 Sep 2026, recommendation letters 8 Sep, decision 18 Dec 2026 https://kecindia.org/en/notices/38
Amounts, quotas and deadlines may change every year. Verify on the official site before applying.