Estimate a Korean scholarship bracket and prepare tuition funding
This calculator helps university students and parents organize household income and assets, estimate a support bracket, and plan the remaining tuition budget under Korean 2026 National Scholarship Type I rules.
Similar salaries can produce different results when rental deposits, financial assets and recognized debts differ.
The KOSAF student-aid bracket is an administrative assessment, not a general statistical income decile.
After estimating the bracket, the calculator applies each semester’s tuition, other confirmed tuition scholarships, Type I already received and allocated cash.
It provides an input-based planning scenario, not an official assessment, scholarship selection or payment approval.
All amounts are Korean won (KRW); this is not an international student-aid eligibility tool.
Decisions the results support
- See how converted asset income changes a salary-only estimate.
- Identify tuition remaining after assumed additional support.
- Prepare cash that may be needed before a scholarship is paid.
- Save an income and budget checklist for KOSAF and university review.
How recognized monthly income is calculated
Recognized monthly income = assessed income + monthly income converted from assets − sibling deduction
Negative amounts are floored at zero at the relevant deduction steps; the final recognized-income estimate is also no lower than zero.
Generally organize the student’s and parents’ assessed resources for an unmarried student, or the student’s and spouse’s resources for a married student.
Verify household scope, estrangement, overseas resources and any exceptional circumstances under KOSAF’s applicable semester guidance.
Sharing an address does not by itself determine which family members are investigated.
The 2026 bracket table uses a common reference: four-person median monthly income of KRW 6,494,738.
Do not substitute a different household-size median merely because your family has two or five people.
The separate sibling deduction is not a household-size adjustment to that table.
Student and daily-worker deductions
Regular employment or business only
For a student with regular work/business income only, deduct KRW 1,300,000 a month, with zero as the floor.
KRW 1,500,000 becomes KRW 200,000.
If the amount is already assessed after deductions, choose assessed mode to avoid deducting twice.
Daily employment only
For daily employment alone, deduct the greater of KRW 1,300,000 and 50% of income.
KRW 800,000 becomes zero; KRW 3,000,000 becomes KRW 1,500,000.
The two deductions are alternatives, not amounts to add together.
For mixed regular, daily and business income, enter the employment/business amount assessed after deductions and verified with KOSAF.
That mode applies no further student deduction.
Enter other household members’ daily income before its 50% deduction; enter their regular work/business income separately.
Other counted income, including the student’s rent, pension or public transfers, belongs in the household other-income field.
Do not duplicate employment/business amounts there.
Separate asset classes and recognized debts
General, financial and vehicle assets
Enter assessed housing, land and other general assets excluding the rental deposit.
Enter the deposit at its unadjusted contract amount: the calculator includes 95% in general assets once.
Financial assets include assessed deposits, stocks and insurance values.
Check the applicable investigation basis, such as deposit balances and insurance surrender values, instead of relying only on today’s bank balance.
Deduction order
Subtract the KRW 69,000,000 basic property allowance and recognized debt from general assets first, then apply any unused deduction to financial assets.
Neither deduction applies to vehicles.
Do not enter excluded overdrafts, credit lines, business loans or card loans as recognized debt.
Outstanding recognized balances are different from approved borrowing limits.
General assets and vehicles: counted value × 4.17%/3 per month
Financial assets: counted value × 6.26%/3 per month
Vehicle input must already exclude verified exemptions, including the permitted disability-owned vehicle exemption.
For multiple disability-owned vehicles, verify the exemption for the highest-value vehicle and include the remaining counted values.
Do not count a vehicle again under general assets or use debt to offset it.
Assessed property values can differ from market prices, so compare inputs against the actual assessment record.
Sibling deductions and welfare status are separate
The sibling deduction applies to an unmarried student with at least three eligible siblings including the student.
It is (eligible sibling count including student − 2) × KRW 400,000 a month.
Three eligible children give KRW 400,000; four give KRW 800,000.
A married student receives no sibling deduction in this model.
Check KOSAF exclusions involving estranged parents’ children, foreign-national siblings and deceased siblings.
The family-register count is not automatically the eligible count.
This deduction affects recognized income; it does not establish eligibility for the separate multi-child scholarship, whose award amounts are outside this Type I calculator.
Basic-livelihood or near-poverty status must be verified under KOSAF rules.
Zero recognized income alone does not establish that status.
Verified status uses the eligible-tuition coverage rule, while other aid, amounts already received, semester conditions and award-count limits still apply.
2026 bracket boundaries and Type I limits
An income exactly equal to a boundary belongs to that bracket.
An amount above it moves to the next bracket.
Classification retains fractional won internally; the display uses up to two decimal places for readability, not as a claim about an official rounding rule.
2026 recognized monthly income and Type I semester and annual limits in KRW| Bracket | Monthly income up to | Semester maximum | Annual maximum |
|---|
| 1 | 1,948,421 | 3,000,000 | 6,000,000 |
| 2 | 3,247,369 | 3,000,000 | 6,000,000 |
| 3 | 4,546,317 | 3,000,000 | 6,000,000 |
| 4 | 5,845,264 | 2,200,000 | 4,400,000 |
| 5 | 6,494,738 | 2,200,000 | 4,400,000 |
| 6 | 8,443,159 | 2,200,000 | 4,400,000 |
| 7 | 9,742,107 | 1,800,000 | 3,600,000 |
| 8 | 12,989,476 | 1,800,000 | 3,600,000 |
| 9 | 19,484,214 | 500,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 10 | Over 19,484,214 | 0 | 0 |
Verified basic-livelihood/near-poverty applicants use a separate eligible-tuition coverage rule.
Annual maxima assume support in both semesters.
Unused capacity from one semester cannot be added to the other semester’s limit.
An award is also capped by eligible tuition remaining after other confirmed tuition scholarships.
Enrollment, grades and prior award counts
The ordinary continuing-student standard includes 12 prior-semester credits and an 80/100 score; the score threshold is 70 for basic-livelihood/near-poverty students.
New, transfer and readmitted students have a first-semester grade exemption; disability, care-leaver and graduating/extra-semester cases have separate provisions.
The C-grade warning rule can apply up to twice for brackets 1–3 with scores from 70 to below 80.
A score alone therefore does not determine eligibility in this calculator.
Two count limits apply together
- Program limits: 4/6/8/10/12 awards for 2/3/4/5/6-year programs.
- Lifetime limit: ordinarily 8, or 10/12 for five/six-year programs.
- Enter counts before the first modeled semester; verify transfer/readmission counting with the university.
- Check restrictions for a return semester after leave whose tuition was already scholarship-funded.
Pending conditions produce a scenario assuming they are met; ineligible conditions produce zero additional aid.
In a two-semester scenario, awards consume counts in semester order.
Recalculate later-semester inputs if an earlier award is denied.
Nationality, participating university, application timing, family consent, documentation and unresolved duplicate support also require review.
Read tuition costs and cash gaps correctly
Count received Type I only once
Estimated total Type I is the smaller of the bracket limit and tuition minus other confirmed tuition scholarships.
Subtract Type I already received for that semester to estimate additional aid, floored at zero.
Do not enter a prior semester’s award, a living-cost scholarship or a student loan as current tuition scholarship support.
Prepare for the period before payment
Cost before new support is tuition minus other aid and Type I already received.
Cost after support subtracts estimated additional Type I.
Each cash gap is the corresponding cost minus cash allocated to that semester, floored at zero.
Without upfront tuition reduction, the larger gap before new support may need funding before scholarship payment.
Enter tuition before scholarship reductions, then enter those reductions in the appropriate aid fields.
Otherwise the same scholarship could be deducted twice.
If received aid conflicts with entered conditions, counts or the estimated cap, the calculator flags review and holds additional aid at zero.
Ask how a later scholarship repays an existing tuition loan; do not treat the same payment as both available cash and a separate debt reduction.
Official income examples and a fictional tuition budget
Official example 1: assets move the result to bracket 8
Student regular income of KRW 1,500,000, parental regular income of KRW 4,160,000 and parental daily income of KRW 1,800,000 yield assessed income of KRW 5,260,000.
General assets of KRW 450,000,000, a KRW 300,000,000 deposit, financial assets of KRW 40,500,000, recognized debt of KRW 373,000,000 and counted vehicles of KRW 10,000,000 yield converted asset income of KRW 5,056,800.
Without a sibling deduction, recognized income is KRW 10,316,800: bracket 8.
Official example 2: deductions carry over to financial assets
Use student daily income of KRW 800,000, parental business income of KRW 2,500,000, general assets of KRW 20,000,000 plus a KRW 250,000,000 deposit, financial assets of KRW 60,000,000, debt of KRW 252,500,000 and vehicles of KRW 10,000,000.
General and financial conversion become zero, but vehicle income of KRW 139,000 remains.
Recognized income is KRW 2,639,000: bracket 2.
Fictional budget: another KRW 700,000 per semester
With example 1, assume tuition of KRW 4,000,000, other aid of KRW 500,000, no Type I yet received and allocated cash of KRW 1,000,000.
Type I of KRW 1,800,000 leaves net tuition of KRW 1,700,000 and a cash gap of KRW 700,000.
The gap before additional support is KRW 2,500,000.
Two identical semesters yield Type I of KRW 3,600,000, net tuition of KRW 3,400,000 and a gap of KRW 1,400,000.
The tuition and cash figures are fictional, not market averages or a payment forecast.
Step-by-step use and practical situations
- Identify assessed family members and income types, then choose the student-income mode.
Use monthly income and distinguish gross inputs from assessed amounts.
- Separate general assets, deposits, financial assets, vehicles and recognized debt.
Do not substitute zero for an unknown asset; complete the review checkbox only after checking the inputs.
- Confirm program length and prior counts, then enter semester tuition and confirmed aid.
Leave uncertain eligibility as pending for scenario comparison.
- Compare cash gaps before and after assumed support and save the TXT review.
Check tuition billing, reductions, payment timing and existing-loan treatment with your university.
After a parent retires or income falls, first check which period of information KOSAF will use; today’s lower cash receipts do not necessarily imply an immediate scholarship increase.
For changed deposits or debt balances, use the review to compare old assessment records with new evidence.
If several siblings attend university, calculate each student separately and avoid assigning the same household cash to more than one budget.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use salary alone?
Converted asset income and sibling deductions can change the bracket.
Only enter zero assets after confirming that zero is correct.
Does zero recognized income establish welfare status?
No.
KOSAF must verify basic-livelihood or near-poverty status.
Without that confirmation, the ordinary bracket 1 limit applies.
Does this calculate the multi-child scholarship?
No.
It calculates Type I; eligible siblings affect the recognized-income deduction only.
Check the separate multi-child award and selection rules.
Does another scholarship always reduce my benefit by the same amount?
Total aid is limited by eligible tuition.
This budget applies entered other aid first; verify actual adjustment order with the university.
Can unused semester 1 capacity move to semester 2?
The semester caps apply independently.
The annual table does not authorize two semesters of funding in a single semester.
Why is there an amount when eligibility is pending?
It is a scenario assuming the conditions are met, not approval.
Also check the cash gap before new support and recalculate after the decision.
Is the two-semester total my final annual award?
No.
It assumes unchanged resources and entered conditions.
Recalculate if a semester’s bracket changes or an earlier award is denied.
Can I use these results in 2027?
No.
KOSAF has announced a five-band system from semester 1 of 2027.
Recheck that year’s boundaries and award rules.
Official sources, rule dates and your next step
Verified 2026-09-20.
The National Law Information OPEN API was used to check the Korea Student Aid Foundation Act, Articles 50-2 and 50-3 (MST276203, effective 2026-01-02), and its Enforcement Decree, Articles 33-4 and 33-6 (MST268473, effective 2025-01-31).
Bracket amounts, deductions and scholarship limits come from KOSAF’s 2026 operating guidance, not a monetary table in those statutory articles.
Prepare the saved review alongside your tuition bill.
Compare it with KOSAF’s simulation and application record, then ask the university to confirm grades, previous awards, billing reductions and loan repayment timing before deciding how much cash to arrange.