KAIST Scholarship 2027 for International Students: Full Tuition, KRW 350,000 a Month and Deadlines

The KAIST scholarship for international undergraduates covers full tuition for 8 semesters, pays KRW 350,000 a month towards living costs and includes medical insurance. There is no separate scholarship form: you tick “KAIST scholarship” in the Statement of Financial Resources section of your admission application, and KAIST says admitted students receive it automatically. To keep it, you need a GPA above 2.7 out of 4.3 after your first year.

For 2027 entry, the Early Admissions round (spring or fall start) closed on 22 October 2026. The Regular Admissions round, for a fall 2027 start only, runs from 10 November 2026 to 14 January 2027 at 6:00 p.m. Korea time (9:00 a.m. GMT). If you missed the early round, Regular Admissions is your route.

What the KAIST scholarship pays

KRW 350,000 a month helps with food and small costs, but it will not cover everything in Daejeon. Plan for flights, the visa, and the gap between arrival and your first payment from your own funds. KAIST’s scholarship page does not say what happens if your GPA falls below 2.7, so ask the admissions office before you rely on the award for all four years.

Who can apply for KAIST international admission

The scholarship goes only to students admitted through KAIST’s International Student Admission, so the admission rules are the scholarship rules:

• Citizenship: you must hold a foreign citizenship. Korean citizens who also hold another nationality cannot apply as international students.
• Korean-origin applicants: you qualify if neither parent is a Korean citizen, or if you completed all of elementary, middle and high school outside Korea. International schools inside Korea do not count as foreign schools. Korean-origin applicants send an entry and exit record from the Korean immigration office and proof of loss of Korean nationality.
• School leaving: you must have finished high school, or finish it, before your KAIST start. For the last fall intake the cut-off was 31 August of the entry year.
• Freshman entry only: KAIST has no transfer route for international undergraduates, and you cannot be a degree student at another university when you enrol.

First-year students at KAIST start without a declared major and choose one at the end of the second semester, without any extra admission procedure. That suits applicants who know they want science or engineering but have not settled on a field.

KAIST majors you can choose after the first year

KAIST’s international admission site lists 17 departments across four colleges and four schools. These are the undergraduate departments named there:

Some listings leave out Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the newer schools, so use KAIST’s own list when you write about the fields you are weighing.

KAIST scholarship 2027 deadlines and timeline

(based on this year’s date; confirm on the official page when the call opens)

KAIST says the result dates may change and that not every applicant is interviewed; invited applicants get an email. Once you pay the application fee you cannot switch between the early and regular tracks.

How to apply for the KAIST scholarship

1. Read the guideline: check the admission guideline on KAIST’s international undergraduate admission site for the document list that fits your school system.
2. Fill in the online application: use the KAIST application portal (univapply.kaist.ac.kr) during the Regular Admissions window.
3. Tick the scholarship: in the Statement of Financial Resources section, select “KAIST scholarship”. This box is the scholarship request.
4. Pay the fee early: the fee was USD 80 or KRW 80,000 in the last cycle, paid by card or bank transfer and not refundable. You cover any bank charges, and KAIST has advised sending bank transfers at least three weeks before the deadline. Your recommender only gets the submission email after you pay.
5. Chase your recommender: the letter is due a week after the application deadline (21 January 2027 for Regular Admissions), and your file is complete only once it is in.
6. Watch your email and the portal: interview invitations come by individual email, and results are posted on the application login page on 25 March 2027.

KAIST application documents

All documents are uploaded as clear, certified scans through the portal. KAIST’s guideline splits them into required and recommended items; the current guideline is the final word for your school system.

Recommendation letter rules

• KAIST considers only one teacher recommendation.
• It prefers your academic adviser, homeroom teacher, or a maths or science teacher.
• The letter goes in electronically through the link KAIST emails your recommender; paper letters are not accepted.
• Type the recommender’s email address carefully. KAIST has suggested a Gmail or Yahoo address, since some school email systems filter its automated message.

English and standardized tests

KAIST does not set a hard English cut-off for international undergraduates, but a score strengthens your file. Its earlier guideline accepted TOEFL, IELTS, TEPS and TOEIC only, taken within two years of the deadline, and recommended at least TOEFL iBT 83, IELTS 6.5, TEPS 326 or TOEIC 720. You can skip the test if you are a national of an English-speaking country or studied at a high school taught in English, with a letter from your school confirming it.

For standardized tests, maths and science scores matter most. SAT and AP scores must be sent officially by the testing agency (KAIST’s code is 4433; ACT is 7778), which takes one to two weeks. If you sat a national school-leaving exam such as WAEC, the Gaokao or the Abitur, describe the exam on one A4 page so the readers understand your results. KAIST has accepted predicted IB and A level grades for conditional admission, with final results due in the summer.

If an upload fails, KAIST accepts documents by post at the Undergraduate Admissions Team, Office of Admissions, KAIST, #102, Yang Boon Soon Bldg. (E16-1), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea (tel. +82 42 350 4803).

Preparing your KAIST application step by step

Because the scholarship rides on your admission file, the quality of that file decides everything. KAIST publishes a new admission guideline each cycle, and the document list differs by school system (national exams, IB, A levels, American-style diplomas and so on), so treat the steps below as a working order and the guideline as the final word.

1. Download this cycle’s guideline: get it from KAIST’s international undergraduate admission site and highlight the rows for your school system. Note which tests are required and which are optional for you.
2. Order transcripts early: ask your school for official transcripts covering the years the guideline lists. If they are not in English or Korean, arrange certified translations. Schools and exam boards often take weeks.
3. Collect proof of graduation or expected graduation: a diploma, or a letter from your school stating your expected completion date. You must finish before the semester starts.
4. Gather supporting evidence: test scores you have taken, certificates from olympiads, science fairs or coding contests, and anything else the guideline lets you upload. Scan each item as a clear PDF and name files so a reader knows what they are.
5. Brief your recommender: pick the teacher who knows your maths and science work best. Give them your draft statements and a short list of what you did in their class, and warn them the request will come by email from KAIST after you pay.
6. Write your statements offline first: draft in a document, edit it over several days, then paste into the portal. Portals time out, and you do not want to lose an essay.
7. Submit, then check: after paying and submitting, log back in to confirm every upload is visible and your recommender has received the link.

KAIST’s 2025 guideline was titled as including a fee waiver. Whether a waiver applies in the 2027 cycle, and to whom, is set out in the current guideline, so check there before you pay.

How to write the KAIST personal statement

The application asks you to write about yourself and what you plan to study. KAIST sets the exact prompts and length limits in each year’s form, so copy them from the portal rather than from an old blog post. What does not change is what the readers are trying to judge: can you handle a demanding science and engineering curriculum, and will you use KAIST’s research culture well?

A structure that works for most applicants:

• Open with one concrete moment: a problem you tried to solve, a project that failed, a question you could not let go. Skip quotes and childhood dreams.
• Show evidence of ability: what you built, measured, coded or proved, and what you learned when it went wrong. Numbers and specifics beat adjectives.
• Explain why KAIST: mention things that are true of KAIST, such as starting without a declared major and choosing at the end of the second semester. A paragraph that could be pasted into any university’s essay will not help you.
• Give a realistic study plan: two or three departments from the list above that you are weighing, the kind of problems you want to work on, and what you would do in your first year to decide.
• Show you can live and study abroad: a sentence or two on how you have handled change or independence, and whether you plan to learn Korean.

A sample opening, written for illustration only: “Our school’s water tank ran dry every March, and for two years nobody could say why. In my second-to-last year of school I borrowed a cheap flow sensor, logged the tank level every hour for six weeks, and found the pump was running at night when the pipes leaked most.” It is specific, it shows a method, and it sets up a story about engineering. Use your own experience; a borrowed story is easy to spot in an interview.

Eligibility edge cases

• Dual Korean citizens: you cannot apply as an international student while you still hold Korean nationality, even if you grew up abroad.
• Studied at an international school in Korea: those years count as schooling in Korea for the Korean-origin rule, which can disqualify some applicants of Korean descent.
• Already at university elsewhere: you can apply, but you enter as a freshman and cannot be enrolled as a degree student at another university when you start at KAIST. Credits do not transfer you into a later year.
• Still in your final school year: fine, provided you graduate before the semester starts. Missing that date cancels the admission and the scholarship with it.
• Did not tick the scholarship box: the box is the only scholarship request. KAIST does not describe a way to add it after submission, so check it before you pay.

What happens after you apply

1. Document review: after the 14 January 2027 deadline and the 21 January recommendation deadline, KAIST reviews complete files. Incomplete files are at risk, so a missing letter matters.
2. Interview, if invited: some applicants receive an email inviting them to an online interview, scheduled around 3 March 2027 for Regular Admissions. Expect questions about your statements and your science background.
3. Results: admission decisions are announced on the application login page on 25 March 2027 at 10:00 a.m. Korea time. If you ticked the box, admission and the scholarship come together.
4. Accept your place: KAIST’s timeline asks fall entrants to reply before August.
5. Student visa and arrival: admitted students apply for a Korean student (D-2) visa at a Korean embassy or consulate with KAIST’s admission documents, then arrive before classes begin at the end of August 2027.

Costs the KAIST scholarship does not cover

The award is generous on tuition but thin on cash. KAIST’s scholarship page lists tuition, KRW 350,000 a month and medical insurance, and nothing else. Budget for these yourself:

Common mistakes KAIST applicants make

• Leaving the “KAIST scholarship” box unticked in the Statement of Financial Resources section.
• Paying the fee on the last day, which leaves your recommender only a week from the moment they receive the link.
• Sending a bank transfer days before the deadline, when KAIST advises at least three weeks.
• Assuming spring 2027 is still possible in the January round. It is fall only.
• Uploading transcripts without certified translations, or blurry phone photos instead of scans.
• Asking two or three teachers for letters. Only one is considered, so choose the one who knows your maths or science work best.
• Writing a generic essay that never mentions anything specific to KAIST.
• Not checking spam folders in March, when interview invitations go out by individual email.
• Planning to live on the stipend alone, then running short in the first semester.

Corrections to other KAIST scholarship listings

• Some listings say you can still pick spring or fall with a 14 January 2027 deadline. Only the closed early round offered spring; the January round is fall only.
• Listings say the number of awards is not stated. KAIST’s page says every admitted student who ticked the box receives the scholarship, so the real competition is admission itself.
• Some listings describe the award as covering graduate students too. This scholarship is for undergraduates; KAIST runs separate graduate admissions and funding.

KAIST scholarship compared with similar awards in Asia

The Global Korea Scholarship pays a much larger monthly allowance and covers flights, but it is a separate and very competitive government application. Many students apply to both: GKS for the bigger package, and KAIST admission with the box ticked as a strong fallback in Korea. If you are weighing East Asia more widely, the Japan scholarships guide covers MEXT and JASSO.

Who should apply, and who should not

I would apply if you are strong in maths and the sciences, want a research-heavy science or engineering degree, and can add some family or personal money to the monthly stipend. The undeclared first year also makes KAIST a good fit if you know you want STEM but have not picked a field.

I would think twice if you need every cost covered including flights and rent, if you want a degree outside science, engineering or related fields, or if you are already halfway through a degree and hoped to transfer credits. Korean citizens, including dual citizens, cannot use this route at all.

FAQ about the KAIST scholarship

Is the KAIST scholarship fully funded?

It covers full tuition for 8 semesters, medical insurance and KRW 350,000 a month. That monthly sum will not cover all living costs, so budget for flights, the visa and part of your daily expenses.

What is the KAIST application deadline for 2027?

Regular Admissions for fall 2027 closes on 14 January 2027 at 6:00 p.m. Korea time. The Early Admissions round for spring or fall 2028 closes on 22 October 2027.

Do I need a separate application for the KAIST scholarship?

No. You tick “KAIST scholarship” in the Statement of Financial Resources section of the admission form, and admitted students receive it automatically.

What GPA do I need to keep the KAIST scholarship?

KAIST asks you to keep a GPA above 2.7 out of 4.3 after your freshman year.

Sources and updates

Scholarship terms come from KAIST’s international undergraduate scholarship page (admission.kaist.ac.kr) and dates from KAIST’s 2027 application timeline (admission.kaist.ac.kr). The list of departments and the undeclared-major rule come from KAIST’s Before You Apply page. Eligibility, the Korean-origin rules and the USD 80 fee come from KAIST’s admission pages and application portal, which still showed fall 2026 wording when checked. The document list, recommendation rules, recommended English scores, test codes, bank transfer advice and mailing address come from KAIST’s published admission guide for international applicants; the 2027 guideline PDF could not be opened, so confirm the details in the current version. The 2028 early round dates repeat this year’s calendar. Checked on 25 October 2026.

Jude Chinecherem

I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.