Türkiye Bursları (Türkiye Scholarships)

Türkiye Bursları received close to 200,000 applications in 2026, up from around 10,000 in its first year in 2012 — a scale that puts it among the most heavily subscribed government scholarship programmes anywhere, and one reason it's worth understanding both what it offers and how competitive it actually is before applying.

What's included, in full

The package is genuinely comprehensive: tuition at the assigned Turkish university, a monthly stipend that scales by degree level, free on-campus or dormitory accommodation, health insurance, a one-time round-trip flight, and free access to academic and cultural enrichment programmes throughout the scholarship. A separate "merit scholar" track, for a smaller number of especially strong applicants, pays double the standard stipend. Because Turkish lira stipend figures move with inflation, treat any specific number you see — including on other sites — as a snapshot rather than a fixed amount, and check the current figure on the official site close to when you apply.

The year you'll spend before your degree starts

Unless you already hold a C1-level Turkish language certificate, every awardee completes a fully funded, mandatory one-year Turkish course before their actual degree programme begins. This is built into the scholarship rather than optional, and it means the realistic timeline from application to the start of your actual degree runs closer to 20 months than to one academic year — results typically arrive in early August, scholars travel to Turkey that September, the language year runs through the following August, and degree study begins the September after that. Some universities do offer English-medium programmes, which doesn't exempt you from the Turkish year but does mean your eventual coursework won't depend on the Turkish you've learned.

Who can apply

Eligibility is unusually open — any nationality except Turkish citizens or those who have lost Turkish citizenship, with age limits of under 21 for bachelor's or associate study, under 30 for master's, and under 35 for PhD. The minimum academic average is 70% for bachelor's and associate applicants, rising to 75% for master's and PhD, and 90% across the board for health sciences programmes specifically, which are held to a distinctly higher bar than every other field.

How selection works, stage by stage

1. Register on the TBBS online portal, available in eight languages, and select up to 12 programme and university preferences
2. Upload required documents: ID, a recent photo, your diploma and transcript, national exam results where applicable, and international test scores such as the GRE, GMAT or SAT if your chosen university requires them
3. YTB conducts a preliminary eligibility screening on age, GPA and documentation completeness
4. A committee evaluates your academic record, letter of intent, career goals and extracurricular or social engagement
5. Undergraduate applicants sit a written test — 30 questions of quantitative and logical reasoning, 60 minutes, offered bilingually in Turkish and English
6. Shortlisted candidates attend an interview of 15-30 minutes, alongside document verification
7. A final committee decision assigns successful applicants to a specific university and programme

Common reasons applications fail

Given the sheer volume of applications, YTB's own guidance and the programme's evaluation criteria point to the document and eligibility screening stage as where most attrition happens — incomplete files, missing translations, or academic averages just under the threshold are filtered out before the committee stage is even reached. Beyond that, the factors YTB names as distinguishing successful applications are consistency in academic record over time, a letter of intent that draws a clear line between past study, the specific programme requested, and stated career goals, genuine evidence of extracurricular or community engagement, and realistic, internally consistent programme preferences — applicants who list 12 mismatched or wildly different fields tend to read as undecided rather than strategic.

What makes it different

Few scholarships bundle this much — tuition, stipend, housing, insurance, flights and a full funded year of language instruction — into one open-to-almost-anyone award with no field restriction. The trade-off is the one-year Turkish immersion requirement for anyone without prior C1 certification, which makes this a meaningfully longer commitment before your actual degree starts than most fully funded scholarships elsewhere, and the near 200,000-applicant pool makes it one of the more competitive as well, despite its broad eligibility.