Bae Byungil, Chairman of the Korea Student Aid Foundation: "Second Round Application Deadline for First Semester National Scholarship Approaching"

The Korea Student Aid Foundation (Chairman Bae Byungil) and the Ministry of Education (Minister Choi Kyojin) announced on March 10, 2026, that there are seven days left until the deadline for the second round of applications for the national scholarship for the first semester of 2026.

The Korea Student Aid Foundation is a quasi-governmental institution under the Ministry of Education, established in 2009 to provide professional and comprehensive financial support for higher education, enabling anyone to access higher education opportunities based on their will and ability regardless of economic circumstances. With an annual budget exceeding 11 trillion won, the foundation carries out a variety of initiatives to foster future talent, including national scholarships, student loans, work-study scholarships, scholarships for outstanding students, as well as donations and mentoring programs.

Korea Student Aid Foundation

The national scholarship is an income-linked scholarship provided by the government to ease the tuition burden for college students. It is awarded to students who meet certain academic criteria and whose income and assets fall below a specific threshold.

The financial aid tier is determined by reflecting the student's and their family members' (parents or spouse) assessed income, the income-converted value of assets such as real estate, and deductions based on the number of siblings. It typically takes about eight weeks to calculate the eligible tier.

This second round of applications is open 24 hours a day through the Korea Student Aid Foundation website and mobile app, and is available to all college students, including current students who missed the first round, new students (such as high school seniors and students taking a gap year), transfer students, and returning students. When applying for the national scholarship, students can simultaneously apply for Type I and II scholarships as well as the multi-child scholarship. For current students, the first round is the standard application period, and they may apply in the second round only twice during their enrollment.

The annual support amount for the 2026 national scholarship (Type I, Type II, and multi-child scholarships) will maintain the increased rates introduced in the second semester of 2025 to further reduce tuition burdens. Specifically, students from basic or near-basic income families and third or subsequent children in multi-child families within tier 8 or below will receive full tuition coverage.

Additionally, students in financial aid tiers 1 to 3 will receive 6 million won (multi-child families: first and second child 6.1 million won); tiers 4 to 6 will receive 4.4 million won (multi-child families: first and second child 5.05 million won); tiers 7 to 8 will receive 3.6 million won (multi-child families: first and second child 4.65 million won); tier 9 will receive 1 million won (multi-child families: first and second child 1.35 million won, third child or more 2 million won).

Furthermore, starting from the first semester of 2027, the financial aid tier system will be reorganized from the current 10-tier system (1 to 10) to a five-tier system (A to E), based on the national scholarship support levels.

Currently, applicants' income and asset levels are categorized into 10 tiers; however, to align with the tier-based national scholarship support amounts, prevent confusion caused by frequent tier changes, and avoid misunderstandings with the national data office's income brackets (such as in household trend surveys), the system will be consolidated into five tiers.

As a result, when the financial aid tier system is restructured, the sensitivity to tier changes will decrease, and the likelihood of institutional confusion will be reduced due to the divergence between the financial aid tier system and the national data office's income brackets.

Prior to the full implementation of the new financial aid tier system in the first semester of 2027, the Korea Student Aid Foundation will provide advance notice of the changes through financial aid tier notifications, its website, AlrimTalk messages, and official correspondence to relevant institutions starting this year.

Bae Byungil, Chairman of the Korea Student Aid Foundation, urged, "With only seven days left until the application deadline, students who have not yet applied should complete their applications as soon as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.