Bitgoeul Scholarship Foundation Selects 318 Scholarship Recipients for First Half of the Year

Middle, High School, and University Students... Recommendations Accepted Until May 22
Significant Increase in Scholarship Amounts Starting This Year

The Bitgoeul Scholarship Foundation (Chairman: Kang Kijeong, Mayor of Gwangju) announced on April 30 that it has selected 318 scholarship recipients for the first half of 2025 and will award a total of 275 million won in scholarships.

The breakdown of recipients is as follows: 178 students for academic encouragement scholarships, 107 students for financial hardship scholarships, and 33 students for vocational high school scholarships. Eligible applicants are middle school, high school, and university students who have resided in Gwangju for at least one year as of the scholarship announcement date (April 30, 2025).

Kang Kijeong, mayor of Gwangju, is awarding the Bitgoeul Scholarship certificate and taking a commemorative photo in the city hall business room on June 28 last year. Provided by Gwangju City

For the academic encouragement scholarship, priority is given to students from middle and high schools in Gwangju who have received a raw score of D or higher (at least 60 points for high school students) in more than half of their subjects in the previous semester and are from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. The financial hardship scholarship targets students from low-income families, while the vocational high school scholarship is awarded to students in designated vocational fields as specified by donors.

Notably, starting this year, the scholarship amounts for recipients have been significantly increased. Middle school students (93 recipients) will receive 500,000 won, up from 300,000 won; high school students (184 recipients) will receive 800,000 won, up from 500,000 won; and university students (41 recipients) will receive 2 million won, up from 1.5 million won. The city will recruit scholarship candidates through designated recommending organizations for each category until May 22, and will finalize and award the scholarships to the selected students in June.

Kim Heeseok, Director of Education Support Policy, stated, "We will continue to provide unwavering interest and support so that local talent can focus on their studies regardless of their economic circumstances," and added, "We ask for the warm support and participation of the local community."

Meanwhile, the Bitgoeul Scholarship Foundation began as the Mudeung Scholarship Association in 1981 and was expanded and reorganized into the Bitgoeul Scholarship Foundation in 2002. As of last year, it has provided a total of 4.71 billion won in scholarships to 6,204 recipients.