Sabancı University in Tuzla, Istanbul, Türkiye, does not run one named graduate scholarship. Graduate scholarship decisions are made as part of admission, and the benefits depend on the award type. A Tuition Waiver Scholarship may provide full or partial tuition exemption with no stipend listed, while the other award types add a monthly stipend. Free dorm rooms, private health insurance and a laptop also appear in the 2026-2027 table, but under the Tuition Waiver the dorm support is only conditional. For applicants, the important question is which benefits an offer actually includes.
The open intake right now is the 2026-2027 Spring Term (study starting in spring 2027). The printed deadlines are November 27, 2026 for the Graduate School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (FENS) thesis Master’s and Doctorate programmes, and December 11, 2026 for the Sabancı Graduate Business School (SBS) Management Doctorate Program (PHDMAN). Sabancı prints these as dates only, with no time of day.
The university’s own wording sets expectations. Its graduate scholarships page says: “Almost all students admitted to Sabancı University’s academic graduate programs (except professional graduate programs) receive full exemption from annual tuition fees.” It then says that, in addition to the tuition waiver, the “majority” of graduate students receive further support, which includes a monthly stipend and a free dorm room. “Almost all” and “majority” are not the same promise, and this guide is built around that gap.
Facts below were checked against official Sabancı University pages (sabanciuniv.edu, sbs.sabanciuniv.edu and iro.sabanciuniv.edu) on 19 October 2026. Amounts use the 2026-2027 scholarship table and are quoted exactly as printed, in Turkish lira (TL) with the number of months shown. Sabancı writes thousands with a dot, so “43.500 TL” means forty-three thousand five hundred lira. No currency conversions are given.
Quick facts
| Item | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Intake | 2026-2027 Spring Term (spring 2027 start) | Application dates page |
| FENS deadline | November 27, 2026 (thesis Master’s and Doctorate) | Application dates page |
| SBS deadline | December 11, 2026 (Management PhD only) | Application dates / SBS PhD |
| Degree finished by | January 29, 2027 (FENS Spring) | FENS announcement |
| Separate form | None described; decided with admission | Graduate scholarships hub |
| Award types | Distinguished, Full, Project, Tuition Waiver, TÜBİTAK BİDEB top-up | Graduate scholarships hub |
| Stipend range | None (Tuition Waiver) up to 135.000 TL (12 months) | Graduate scholarships hub |
| Nationality | No nationality restriction stated on the graduate scholarship pages | Graduate scholarships hub |
| How to apply | Online graduate application system only | FENS / SBS pages |
Who this fits (and who should look elsewhere)
Likely a good fit
- You want a thesis Master’s or a PhD in engineering, natural sciences, computing, data or cyber security, mathematics, physics, molecular biology, energy, materials, manufacturing, mechatronics or industrial engineering, and you can start in spring 2027. The FENS Spring announcement lists twelve programmes: Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering; Computer Science and Engineering; Cyber Security; Data Science; Electronics Engineering; Energy Technologies and Management (With Thesis, Master’s); Industrial Engineering; Manufacturing Engineering; Materials Science and Nano Engineering; Mathematics; Mechatronics Engineering; and Physics.
- You want a full-time PhD in management (specialisations described on the SBS page: Management and Organization; Business Analytics and Operations Management; Finance; Marketing). The SBS PhD page states that “all doctoral students are accepted with scholarships.”
- Your previous degree will be completed by January 29, 2027, and you already hold (or can sit before the deadline) an accepted graduate entrance exam and an accepted English test.
- You are comfortable with a merit-based decision made inside the admission process, with interviews or a written exam held in English.
Probably not for you (yet)
- You only want a professional or non-thesis programme. The general scholarship statement excludes “professional graduate programs”, and no Spring Term deadline is listed for professional master’s programmes.
- You want a Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences programme for spring 2027. No Spring Term entry is listed for that school on the application dates page.
- You are applying for an undergraduate place. The 2026-2027 undergraduate international window has closed, undergraduate awards work differently (see the FAQ), and 2027-2028 undergraduate dates are not published yet.
- Your only English score is IELTS. IELTS, TOEFL-PBT and TOEFL-CBT are not valid for Sabancı graduate registration under the Turkish Higher Education Council (YÖK) rules quoted on the requirements page.
- You need a guaranteed stipend before you can accept any place. The hub promises a stipend to a majority, not to everyone, and one award type lists no stipend at all.
Similar funded graduate options, each with its own rules, include GIST graduate funding in Korea, the VISTEC Scholarship in Thailand and the Kochi University of Technology Special Scholarship Program in Japan.
In short: if you already have the official scholarship table open, the useful question is not “how much is the Full Scholarship?” but “what happens to my plan if the offer is a Tuition Waiver?” The sections below are written to help you answer that before you apply.
How scholarship decisions are made
There is no separate graduate scholarship application described on the hub. Instead, the hub describes admission and scholarship decisions as part of the academic-merit evaluation process. Scholarship recommendations are made by the Admission Jury and finalized by the Board of the relevant Graduate School. The FENS Spring announcement states that financial support may take the form of a monthly stipend and/or tuition waiver, with decisions made by the Admissions Committee. Separately, the International Relations Office (IRO) states that international applicants who meet the application requirements are automatically considered for a scholarship.
In practice this means three things:
- Your scholarship decision is made during the admission evaluation. Prepare the required application documents and accepted test results, and be ready for the screening, written exam and/or interview specified for your programme. The official pages say decisions are based on academic merit but do not publish a scoring formula for individual components.
- You learn your award type with your admission result. Sabancı does not publish selection ratios, quotas for spring 2027, or the share of Full Scholarships that go to international applicants.
- The hub’s “almost all” (full tuition exemption) and “majority” (further support, including a monthly stipend and free dorm room) describe admitted students in general. They are not a guarantee of a particular award for an individual applicant, and the Tuition Waiver Scholarship may provide only partial tuition exemption with no stipend listed.
For context, the hub’s tuition footnote states that for the 2026-2027 academic year the annual tuition fee for newly admitted students in academic graduate programmes is 1.499.500 TL for Turkish citizens and 24.500 USD for international students. That is the fee a 100% exemption removes.
Award types compared (2026-2027)
The hub lists five award types for the 2026-2027 academic year, effective from September 2026 for continuing and new graduate students. Stipends are monthly amounts paid for the number of months shown. “After QE” means after the PhD qualifying exam.
Monthly stipend by award and level
| Award | Master’s | PhD | PhD after QE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distinguished | Not offered (FENS PhD only) | 115.000 TL (12 months) | 135.000 TL (12 months) |
| Full | 43.500 TL (10 months) | 67.500 TL (12 months) | 75.000 TL (12 months) |
| Project | 47.850 TL/month (10 months) | 74.250 TL/month (12 months) | 82.500 TL/month (12 months) |
| BİDEB top-up | 5.000 TL (10 months) | 5.000 TL (12 months) | 5.000 TL (12 months) |
| Tuition Waiver | No stipend listed | No stipend listed | No stipend listed |
Project figures are the level Sabancı tops a project stipend up to (for industry, NGO and other external projects they are printed as minimums). The BİDEB figure is what Sabancı adds on top of a national TÜBİTAK BİDEB scholarship, not the national stipend itself.
What else comes with each award
| Benefit | Full, Project, BİDEB top-up | Tuition Waiver |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | 100% exemption | 100% or partial exemption |
| Dorm | Master’s: free two-person room; PhD: free one-person room (a double room in exceptional cases, depending on availability) | “If applicable”: Master’s free double room; PhD free single room (double in exceptional cases); “Dormitory support may be provided” |
| Transport | 10.000 TL (10 months Master’s; 12 months PhD) if not in the dorm | 10.000 TL if eligible for dorm support but not staying in the dorm |
| Health insurance | Private health insurance | Private health insurance |
| Laptop | Yes | Yes |
| Conference | One time per year (limited) | Subject to the institute’s decision |
The Distinguished award follows the same pattern with a free one-person room at both PhD stages, transport of 10.000 TL (12 months) for those not in the dorm, and one conference support per year.
Notes on each type
- Distinguished Science & Technology Scholarship. For “exceptionally successful students” applying to, or past the qualification stage of, FENS PhD programmes, after a separate evaluation by the scholarship committee. It adds an annual research fund of 3.000 USD after the qualifying exam (none before), and recipients “will be offered the opportunity for co-supervision by the leading scientists in prominent universities and institutions worldwide, and joint PhD degrees whenever possible.” You cannot plan on this award; treat it as an upside.
- Full Scholarship. The standard full package. The SBS PhD page describes it as based on academic achievement and including a tuition waiver, a monthly stipend, dormitory or transportation support, private health insurance, a laptop and conference support.
- Project Scholarship. Funded by research grants from TÜBİTAK, industry, non-governmental organisations and similar sources. For TÜBİTAK research projects (including the 2244 Industry PhD Program), the printed stipends are 47.850 TL/month for MA/MS, 74.250 TL/month for PhD and 82.500 TL/month for PhD after qualifying exams, and if the TÜBİTAK stipend is lower, Sabancı covers the difference. The hub links a list of ongoing research projects at Sabancı institutes and centres (dated Spring 2025-2026) in which, it says, you can take part.
- Tuition Waiver Scholarship. “Graduate students may be admitted with a scholarship that provides full or partial exemption from the annual tuition fee.” No stipend is listed, dorm support is conditional, and the page does not print which partial percentages are used.
- TÜBİTAK BİDEB top-up. Sabancı encourages students to apply to the national TÜBİTAK BİDEB 2210 (National Graduate Scholarship Program) or 2211 (National Doctorate Scholarship Program) and adds the benefits above to students admitted to its graduate programmes. This guide does not cover the national programmes’ own eligibility rules; check TÜBİTAK’s pages before assuming you qualify.
- Other named awards. The hub also names the Işık İnselbağ Scholarship (business school, within the “Işık İnselbağ Finance Chair”; the SBS PhD page says it is provided to a successful doctorate student), the İsmail Serhat Oğuz Scholarship and the Fuat Keyman Scholarship (both Graduate School of Social Sciences). No amounts are printed for these.
How to read an offer before you accept
Because the award type arrives with the admission result, the decision you actually face is whether a particular offer works for you. Use the official table to check four things.
- Which type is it? “Scholarship” on its own does not tell you whether there is a stipend. Full, Project, Distinguished and the BİDEB top-up list stipends; the Tuition Waiver does not.
- Is the tuition exemption 100% or partial? Only the Tuition Waiver type can be partial. If it is partial, the remainder of the annual fee is the cost you need to plan for. The hub sets that fee at 1.499.500 TL for Turkish citizens and 24.500 USD for international students in 2026-2027; partial percentages themselves are not printed.
- Is housing confirmed or “if applicable”? Full-type awards list a free room by level. Under the Tuition Waiver, dorm support is conditional.
- Is anything excluded? If you were admitted on the condition of passing the English Language Assessment Exam (ELAE) and end up needing English preparation courses, the requirements page says “Scholarships do not apply to the English Language Preparation courses.” For the SBS PhD and Social Sciences programmes, the requirements page goes further: there are no scholarships for the preparatory year and such candidates “will be required to pay the full tuition fee.”
Spring 2027 calendar as printed
| Milestone | Date as printed | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| FENS deadline | November 27, 2026 | Thesis Master’s and Doctorate programmes |
| Recommender letters | Within 3 days from the application deadline | FENS applicants |
| SBS deadline | December 11, 2026 | Management Doctorate Program (PHDMAN) |
| FENS interviews | 07 to 25 December 2026 | Shortlisted candidates after initial screening |
| ELAE | Right after the final application deadline | Applicants without a valid English score |
| Degree completed | By January 29, 2027 | FENS Spring applicants |
What the calendar means in practice:
- The FENS deadline is November 27, 2026, earlier than the SBS Management PhD deadline of December 11, 2026. If you are applying to a FENS programme, plan around the November 27 deadline.
- FENS applicants are informed by e-mail, and the announcement recommends checking e-mail regularly. Keep the interview window free.
- Recommenders cannot upload until you complete the application, because the system e-mails them a link only then. If you submit on the last day, they get only the three-day window that follows it.
- None of these dates has a printed time of day. Do not assume a late-evening cut-off.
- The 2026-2027 Fall Term dates have passed, and Fall 2027 (2027-2028) graduate dates are not published yet.
Requirements and pitfalls
Use these lists to judge whether a spring 2027 application is realistic for you before you start it: degree rules first, then the minimum test scores, documents and common pitfalls.
Degree rules for applying
- Master’s (FENS thesis programmes): you must hold an undergraduate degree or be registered in the last term of one. For spring 2027, the FENS announcement requires your previous degree to be completed by January 29, 2027.
- PhD: you may apply with a bachelor’s or a master’s. With a bachelor’s, you need a 3.00/4.00 GPA (other grading scales need a conversion table or an official letter from your institution). With a master’s, it must be a “Master with Thesis”; a non-thesis master’s is accepted only if you enrolled in it before February 6th, 2013 and can prove it with an official document.
- Studied abroad: applications by international applicants studying abroad are valid only after YÖK approves and recognises your last institution and course of study. The page says the university makes this enquiry.
Graduate entrance exams (minimum scores as printed)
- FENS thesis Master’s: ALES or e-ALES Numerical 65; GRE Quantitative 153; or GAT 65 (Pakistan NTS).
- FENS PhD with a bachelor’s: ALES Numerical 80; GRE Quantitative 160; or GAT Subject Test 80.
- FENS PhD with a graduate degree: ALES Numerical 65; GRE Quantitative 153; or GAT 65.
- SBS Management PhD: GMAT 600 (10th Edition) or 555 (Focus Edition); GRE Quantitative 157; ALES or e-ALES Equal weight 82; or GAT Subject Test 82. The SBS institution number for ETS score reports is 7100.
- ALES and GRE results are valid for 5 years and GAT for 2 years (GMAT also 5 years on the SBS page).
English tests (minimum scores as printed)
| Test | FENS Master’s and PhD | SBS Management PhD |
|---|---|---|
| TOEFL IBT | 80 (Best Score not accepted) | 88 (Best score not accepted) |
| PTE Academic | 69 | 74 |
| CAE / CPE | B / C | B / C |
| YDS, e-YDS, YÖKDİL, e-YÖKDİL | 67 | 73 |
| e-TEP | 54 | 64 |
| IELTS | Not valid for registration | Not valid for registration |
- TOEFL and PTE scores are valid for 2 years, CAE and CPE for 3 years, YDS-family scores for 5 years and e-TEP for 2 years.
- If you take TOEFL IBT, PTE Academic, CAE or CPE in Türkiye, the exam centre must be a state university building, and “home edition” versions are not accepted.
- Without a valid English score, you can be admitted only on condition of a satisfactory ELAE score; the exam runs right after the final application deadline and the invitation is sent by e-mail. The SBS PhD requirements add that candidates outside the city or abroad are also expected to take it and there is no make-up exam.
- PhD applicants must prove proficiency in a language other than their native language. The ELAE result does not count as that PhD foreign-language certificate.
- Sabancı University graduates are exempt from submitting an English score if they apply within two years of graduating (PhD applicants still need the foreign-language certificate).
Documents
For FENS thesis Master’s and PhD programmes: the online application form, an official transcript, a statement of purpose, a CV, two letters of recommendation (enter your two faculty recommenders’ e-mail addresses; letters you upload yourself “will be considered invalid”), your entrance exam result and your English result. Candidates can apply to multiple programmes. The SBS PhD list also asks for a passport-sized photograph and a statement of personal and professional purpose of no more than two pages. If admitted, you must submit the originals of the official documents at registration.
Common pitfalls
- Planning on IELTS, TOEFL-PBT, TOEFL-CBT or a home-edition test score.
- Submitting on the deadline day, so your recommenders get their upload link late.
- Uploading your own reference letters, or e-mailing the application. “Applications sent via e-mail cannot be evaluated.”
- Applying for spring 2027 with a degree that will not be finished by January 29, 2027.
- Confusing the deadlines: November 27, 2026 applies to FENS thesis Master’s and Doctorate programmes; December 11, 2026 applies to the SBS Management Doctorate Program (PHDMAN).
- Assuming every offer includes a stipend, or that a Tuition Waiver is always 100%.
- Relying on the ELAE route without budgeting for preparation courses, which scholarships do not cover.
- Relying on figures from third-party listings. Check every amount against the 2026-2027 table; stipends are printed in TL, not USD.
Contacts and next step
- Graduate applications (administrative and procedure questions): Student Resources, [email protected], phone +90 (216) 483 9093 (printed on the FENS announcement).
- Academic questions about a FENS programme: the FENS Spring announcement names an academic contact for each programme. The announcement asks that academic inquiries go only to those contacts.
- SBS Management PhD: Ayşe Kocabıyıkoğlu, [email protected] (listed under Contact on the SBS PhD page).
Practical next step: choose your programme, verify its entrance-exam and English-test requirements, and arrange your two faculty recommenders before submitting through the online graduate application system. Use the deadline for your specific programme, and compare the award type and listed benefits against the tables above when your admission result arrives.
FAQ
Is every Sabancı graduate offer fully funded with a stipend?
No. The hub says “almost all” admitted students in academic programmes (not professional ones) get full tuition exemption, and a “majority” also get a monthly stipend and a free dorm room. The Tuition Waiver type lists no stipend and can be partial.
Do I need to fill in a separate scholarship application?
No separate graduate scholarship form is described. Scholarship decisions are made during the admission evaluation, and the IRO says international applicants who meet the requirements are automatically considered.
Are the stipends paid in US dollars?
No. All stipends on the 2026-2027 table are printed in TL with a month count. The only USD figures on the hub are the international annual tuition fee (24.500 USD) and the Distinguished award’s research fund after the qualifying exam (3.000 USD).
Is December 11, 2026 the deadline for all graduate programmes?
No. It is the deadline for the SBS Management Doctorate Program (PHDMAN). The FENS thesis Master’s and Doctorate deadline for spring 2027 is November 27, 2026. See the calendar above.
Can international students apply, and is there a country list?
Yes, international students can apply. The graduate scholarship pages print no nationality list or restriction, and the tuition footnote covers both Turkish citizens and international students. Sabancı does not say whether international applicants receive the same share of Full Scholarships.
Can I use IELTS?
No. The requirements page states that IELTS, TOEFL-PBT and TOEFL-CBT are no longer accepted as equivalent by YÖK and are not valid for graduate registration. Use one of the accepted tests in the English table, or the ELAE route.
How many scholarships are available for spring 2027?
Not stated. The quotas page still shows 2025-2026 Spring figures, so this guide does not quote it as current.
Is there an application fee for graduate programmes?
The graduate pages reviewed do not state one. The 30 USD fee mentioned by the IRO applies to undergraduate international applications.
Are the Azerbaijan, Iraq, Oman, Libya, Pakistan HEC and Qatar options Sabancı scholarships?
No. The IRO lists these as sponsored routes run by other governments that can be used at Sabancı. They are not Sabancı awards and have their own rules.
Do undergraduate scholarships work the same way?
No. The IRO FAQ states that the undergraduate scholarship “is a tuition waiver scholarship and it only covers tuition fees”, with any dormitory scholarship awarded separately. The 2026-2027 undergraduate window has closed.
Are Fall 2027 dates or 2027-2028 amounts published yet?
Not on the pages checked on 19 October 2026. The amounts in this guide are for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Official sources
- Graduate Scholarships (2026-2027 table)
- Application Dates for Graduate Programs
- Graduate School of Engineering and Natural Sciences application announcements
- Graduate Applications Requirements for 2026-2027 Academic Year
- Sabancı Business School Ph.D. in Management
- International Relations Office: Scholarships
- International Relations Office: Tuition fees and scholarships FAQ
- Ongoing research projects
