Türkiye_Scholarships
Türkiye Scholarships
Turkish scholarship program
Türkiye Scholarships (Turkish: Türkiye Bursları) is an international scholarship program funded by the Government of Turkey.[1][2][3] With 5,000 scholarships annually the program is the largest Turkish scholarship program for international students with 165,500 of them from 178 different countries applying in 2021.[4] In 2017 accepted international students enrolled into 105 public and private universities in different parts of Turkey.[5] The program was initiated in 1992 at the time of the mandate of the Turkish President Turgut Özal and was rebranded in its current form in 2012.[6]
Some developing countries such as Nigeria organize highly competitive national exams where in the Nigerian case in 2020 over 1000 students completed for 12 spots.[7] In 2012 initial application was completed by 16,720 Nigerian applicants while in 9 years leading up to 2012 337 students from this country were awarded scholarships.[8]
Scholarships offered under this program are available to international students at associate, undergraduate, master, and Ph.D. level of higher education.[1][9] The stated aim of the Türkiye Scholarships is to improve mutual understanding with other countries and people to people exchange.[10]
All candidates without adequate Turkish language skills, irrespective of the language of their degree program in Turkey, attend one year-long Turkish language course.[11][12]
Application materials for the scholarship can be submitted in Turkish, Arabic, English, French, Russian, Bosnian, Persian or Spanish language.[13] In 2017 Turkish authorities announced that they will support the establishment of some 100 international alumni associations worldwide over two years.[14]