Chairman Lee Joung-woo of Korea Student Aid Foundation (KOSAF). (Photos: KOSAF)

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and Korea Student Aid Foundation (KOSAF) announced a plan to support 2020 national grants and scholarships program for excellent students in humanities, sociology, arts and athletics.

The 2020 national grants and scholarships program is a project to support four-year university students in humanities, sociology, arts and athletics. The program will see grants and scholarships rise to 24.4 billion won this year, an increase of 9.2 billion over the previous year.

Beneficiaries target scholarship recipients selected by each participating university based on its own screening guidelines. Each will be given 2 million won per semester for all tuitions and living costs until their graduation, and an additional 2 million won per semester will go to each student of families in the national basic livelihood bracket.

The Humanities 100-Year Grant will be offered to an additional 1,500 year one or two university students in the humanities & sociology departments 600 freshmen and 264 students in his or her junior year.

A total of 440 freshmen and undergraduates in year one or three in arts and athletics will be newly selected for beneficiaries of four year universities the Arts & Athletic Vision Grant.

The 2020 grant and scholarship recipients represent an about three-fold surge over the previous year to ramp up support to excellent students specializing in humanities & sociology and arts & athletic departments.
MOE and KOSAF have reorganized the scholarship support regime - offering tuition and living costs, as well as supporting only tuition in accordance with universities’ recommendations based on scholastic achievements, students’ capability and economic levels.

The Arts & Athletic Vision Grant has undergone changes - expanding the scope of recipients, currently only juniors, to cover freshmen, and raising scholarship money as living costs from current 1.5 million won once yearly to 2 million won per semester until graduation - the same treatment given to beneficiaries of the Humanities 100-Year Grant.

KOSAF Aims to Be a Global Leader in Talent Development by Supporting Students

The financial aid programs administered by KOSAF are customized for students’ various needs. Together, the programs offer aid to an increasing range of students.

Through its grants and scholarship programs, KOSAF strives to establish a system in which any qualified individual has the opportunity to pursue higher education, regardless of financial status.

KOSAF’s grant and scholarship programs are divided into three main categories: need-based, merit-based, and work-based.

Student Aid

The Korea Student Aid Foundation’s student-centered student aid system provides customized options for students seeking support for higher education.

KOSAF’s grants & scholarships, student loans, and work-based aids expand opportunities for students to pursue their dreams, and the Sharing & Volunteering programs allow students to gain valuable skills and experience to inspire and prepare them for the future.

National Student Aid in Korea

KOSAF provides most of the student aid for higher education in the forms of grants, scholarships, and loans.

Grants & Scholarships

Through grants & scholarships, KOSAF offers opportunities for higher education to students from all backgrounds.

The awards range from highly competitive, prestigious national scholarships that recognize the top students in Korea to grants that expand educational opportunities for hardworking students with financial difficulty in continuing their studies.

Student Loans

KOSAF’s loan programs help students pay for undergraduate and graduate level studies in Korea. Eligibility that is not subject to credit approval, deferment options, income contingent repayment, reduced fixed and variable interest rates, and interest relief benefits - all in large part depending on the student borrower’s profile – are characteristics of the loan programs. These borrower-friendly options demonstrate the student aid system’s student-focused approach.

Sharing & Volunteering

The Sharing & Volunteering programs, created and implemented by KOSAF are an essential part of its student aid system.

Encouraging and helping students to grow into global leaders who will contribute to the society, the programs are coordinated for varying periods of time and have many forms: giving (donor contributions), career mentoring, academic advising, volunteering in Korea and overseas, and tutoring for underprivileged secondary school students.

A view of KOSAF headquarters in Daegu.