Türkiye Bursları Scholarship 2027: Complete Guide

Quick answer

Türkiye Bursları is the Turkish government’s fully funded scholarship for international students, covering tuition, a monthly stipend, accommodation, health insurance, a one-time flight ticket and a one-year Turkish course. Stipends listed on the official site are 6,500 TL a month for bachelor’s, 9,500 TL for master’s and 13,000 TL for PhD students (Türkiye Scholarships).

The official calendar runs applications from 10 January to 20 February each year, with evaluation in March and April, interviews from April to June, results in early August and arrival in September (Türkiye Scholarships calendar). The calendar page gives no year. For 2026, the application announcement was posted on 29 December 2025, and we found no 2027 announcement yet. Treat 10 January to 20 February 2027 as the expected window until YTB confirms it.

YTB reports nearly 200,000 applications in 2026 (YTB). It does not state how many awards were made in that release, so we give no acceptance rate as fact.

Türkiye Bursları key facts

Sources: criteria page, why Türkiye Scholarships, calendar. We found no application fee mentioned on the pages we read, but check the portal.

Eligibility

The official page also requires that you have graduated, or will graduate, before August of the application year, and that you are not a Turkish citizen or currently enrolled at that level in a Turkish university (criteria page). It lists a 90% minimum for health sciences (Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy) without splitting it by level, so confirm it for your level in the portal.

Our view: a minimum is only the entry ticket. We found no official figures on the grades of successful applicants, so we cannot tell you what score wins.

What Türkiye Bursları covers

Sources: official site and full-time programmes page. Amounts are in Turkish lira and are set by YTB, so their value in your currency moves with the exchange rate. Other sites quote lower stipends (4,500, 6,500 and 9,000 TL, for example). Those are out of date against the official page we read, and we have not used them.

Dates and timeline

Source: Türkiye Scholarships calendar. The calendar page gives no year. For 2026, the application announcement was posted on 29 December 2025, and we found no 2027 announcement yet. Treat 10 January to 20 February 2027 as the expected window until YTB confirms it. The calendar gives no closing time or time zone, so do not rely on a last-day, last-hour submission. Our advice: submit well before the final day, because heavy traffic on any deadline day is a risk. We could not verify claims of past portal outages, so we do not repeat them.

How competitive is it?

YTB’s own release says the 2026 round drew nearly 200,000 applications, with the YTB President also quoted saying “over 200,000”. The first year, 2012, saw around 10,000 (YTB, 26 February 2026).

The release does not give the number of awards. A commonly quoted figure is about 5,000 a year, which is on Wikipedia without a year and which we could not confirm from YTB (Wikipedia). If it is right, 5,000 ÷ 200,000 is about 2.5% (our calculation, approximate). YTB publishes no country quotas or per-country odds, so we give none.

How to apply

1. Create an account on the Türkiye Scholarships Application System (TBBS) when the window opens.
2. Choose programmes. You pick from the universities and programmes the system offers for your level and background, up to 12 choices. Our guide to the university list and ranking your 12 choices covers this step.
3. Upload documents (below).
4. Submit before the deadline.

Required documents (official list, five steps page): a valid ID card or passport; a photograph taken within the last year; national exam results, if any; diploma or temporary graduation certificate; transcript; international exam results such as GRE, GMAT or SAT if the university or programme requires them; language test results such as TOEFL or DELF if required; and, for PhD only, a research topic proposal and a written example of past research.

That page does not mention a motivation letter, so check the portal form for any personal statement and its limits. Our advice if one is asked for: be specific about the programme, why Türkiye, and what you will do with the degree, and write it yourself.

The Turkish language year

Scholars without a C1 Turkish certificate must attend a one-year Turkish course and reach C1 by the end of that year. YTB says this applies whatever the language of study, and students with a C1 certificate from the Yunus Emre Institute or a university Turkish centre are exempt (YTB FAQ).

• The preparatory programme is 960 hours of Turkish plus 140 hours of Academic Turkish.
• If you fail the year, the scholarship is frozen until you submit a language certificate and begin your studies. If you still lack the language at the end of the second year, it is cancelled.
• Absences over 20 hours a month cut the scholarship by 25%, and more than 100 unexcused hours in total lead to cancellation.

IELTS and TOEFL are required only if your programme or university asks for them, per the official document list. We could not verify any specific score thresholds, so we give none.

The interview

YTB says candidates who pass desk-based review are interviewed face to face in their home countries (YTB). We found no official figures for how many are interviewed, the length or the panel, so we do not give them.

Our advice (not YTB guidance): be ready to explain your programme choice, why Türkiye, your plan for after graduation, and basic facts about the country. Check your invitation for the exact date, since we could not verify how much notice candidates get.

Success Scholarship (Başarı Bursu)

This is a separate award for foreign students already living and studying in Türkiye. It has its own application, in October and November, with evaluation and results in November (calendar). The terms below are from the 2024 announcement (applications 21 October to 22 November 2024); we could not find the current year’s text, so check TBBS for the latest (2024 announcement copy).

It is not an add-on for current Türkiye Bursları scholars. Those scholars are excluded from it.

Mistakes to avoid

• Using out-of-date stipend or date figures. Check the official pages, which differ from many guides.
• Leaving it to the last day. Submit early.
• Uploading unclear or incomplete documents. Use scans that are legible and complete.
• Choosing programmes you do not qualify for. The system shows only what is offered for your level, but check the language of instruction before ranking.
• Assuming a Turkish-free path. Unless you hold a C1 certificate, the one-year course is compulsory, and failing it can end the scholarship.
• Treating the stipend as full living costs. Check current rents in the city where you may be placed.
• Relying on one scholarship. See our fully funded scholarships guide and the Stipendium Hungaricum guide for other routes.

Frequently asked questions

How we researched this

Last checked: 20 October 2026. We read the official Türkiye Scholarships pages (criteria, benefits, calendar, application steps, language FAQ), YTB’s 26 February 2026 release on applications, and the 2024 Success Scholarship announcement as published by a Turkish university. Stipends, ages and minimums come from the official site as we read it on 20 October 2026.

Limits: the calendar gives no year, so the 2027 dates are expected rather than announced. We could not confirm the number of awards, partner university counts, country quotas, interview numbers, a motivation-letter format, transfer rules or the current Success Scholarship amounts. Many guides state them, but we could not source them, so we leave them out.

This page is for general information. LearnViaHub is not affiliated with the Turkish government, YTB or the Türkiye Scholarships programme.