Master's Degree in Türkiye for African Students

What a master’s degree in Türkiye looks like

The qualification is the Yüksek lisans (tezli / tezsiz) — a master’s with a thesis or without one. The thesis route is the mainstream: four semesters, at least 120 ECTS, seven taught courses, a seminar and the thesis. The non-thesis route runs two to three semesters and ends in a term project. Across both, the rules allow 1 to 3 years.

Teaching starts in September, February. Intakes are September (Fall) – main intake, February (Spring) – some universities/programmes only, so treat February as a fallback rather than a plan.

English-taught study is real at this level but concentrated. Boğaziçi in Istanbul lists 72 English-taught master’s programmes and Koç 43; Bilkent in Ankara teaches all of its programmes in English, and the foundation (vakıf) universities teach mainly in English. At Istanbul University, English provision is limited.

Check the language of instruction before anything else: a Turkish-medium offer means a preparatory language year before the master’s begins. Türkiye has 208 recognised institutions, and a degree from any of them is a recognised Turkish qualification.

Is an African bachelor’s accepted?

Yes. Three-year African bachelor's degrees are not excluded. The regulation requires a lisans diploma with no minimum length in years; what universities check is that the awarding institution is recognised by YÖK, evidenced by an Okul Tanıma Belgesi obtained free through e-Devlet (in person for institutions in the TRNC, USA, Netherlands and Ukraine). Full diploma denklik – which compares duration, content, taught and practical courses against the equivalent 4-year/240-ECTS Turkish lisans and can trigger Seviye ve Yeterlik Belirleme Sistemi (SYBS) steps such as course completion or a Seviye Tespit Sınavı – is required for professional recognition and public employment, not for admission to a master's.

Institutes differ on timing: Boğaziçi wants YÖK equivalence before final registration, Bahçeşehir handles it after enrolment, and Koç takes any recognised bachelor’s with a GRE or GMAT score and TOEFL iBT 80.

On grades there is no single number to hit. No national minimum GPA. The Lisansüstü Eğitim ve Öğretim Yönetmeliği sets only the ALES floor of 55 and the 50% weighting; each senate sets its own bachelor's-GPA minimum, and flagship institutes publish none (METU asks for the GPA on the transcript and converts it itself). In practice a second-class upper / 2.50 on 4.00 is competitive for funded places, and Türkiye Bursları applies a hard academic floor of 75% for graduate candidates and 90% for health-sciences candidates. Not published: no national or flagship-level minimum GPA figure (checked mevzuat.gov.tr Lisansüstü Eğitim ve Öğretim Yönetmeliği, iso.metu.edu.tr grad-handout-eng.pdf, sbe.metu.edu.tr/en/important-note-international-applicants).

How much a master’s costs in Türkiye

Public universities are the cheap route: US$750–2,000 per year for a foreign-national master’s, against US$8,000–20,000 per year at a foundation university. There is no national semester registration charge on top — each university’s headline figure is the whole annual bill.

The spread inside those bands is wide. METU charges TRY 9,976 per semester flat for every graduate programme and Boğaziçi US$300 per semester. Istanbul Technical asks TRY 33,300 per year. At the other end, Bilkent charges US$18,400 per year and Koç US$24,300–51,800 per year for its professional programmes.

Living costs are TRY 12,000–35,000 per month, and TRY 28,000–56,000 per month in Istanbul. Add private health insurance at TRY 4,800–5,800 per year and the residence permit, whose 2026 document fee is TRY 964 with a separate duty on top that scales by nationality and by how long the permit runs.

Tuition is quoted in US dollars but paid in lira at the prevailing rate, so the lira sum moves with the exchange rate even when the dollar price does not. The full breakdown is on our cost of studying in Türkiye page.

English requirements for a master’s

No national English floor exists; each university sets its own. The benchmark at master’s level is IELTS 6.5, which is what Bilkent (6.5), Boğaziçi (6.5) and Istanbul Medipol (6.5) publish for graduate entry. TOEFL is the common alternative and at some universities the only one: Koç takes TOEFL iBT 80 and no IELTS, Istanbul Technical 91, Sabancı 85, Bahçeşehir 72 and Hacettepe 60.

Medium-of-instruction letters are treated narrowly: Boğaziçi accepts one, Sabancı decides case by case, and Koç, Istanbul Technical, Hacettepe, Yeditepe, Bahçeşehir and Istanbul University do not. If you were taught in English in Nigeria, Ghana or Kenya, budget for a test anyway. Turkish-medium programmes ask for a Turkish certificate at C1 instead. Our study in Türkiye without IELTS page lists the exemptions.

Universities to look at for a master’s

Boğaziçi University, Istanbul. 72 English-taught master’s programmes at US$300 per semester, the lowest published graduate fee here, and a QS position of #345 (QS 2027).

Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. TRY 9,976 per semester flat for every graduate programme, ranked #305 (QS 2027). Transcripts are assessed case by case by the graduate school, which converts your GPA itself.

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul. TRY 33,300 per year covers master’s and doctorate alike, and the graduate school judges on transcript, references and English. It is the highest-ranked public university here at #279 (QS 2027).

Bilkent University, Ankara. Teaches all of its programmes in English at US$18,400 per year, the same rate as its bachelor’s, and asks IELTS 6.5. Ranked #454 (QS 2027).

Koç University, Istanbul. 43 English-taught master’s programmes; professional and non-thesis routes run US$24,300–51,800 per year, while thesis master’s are mostly tuition-waived.

Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul. Bills by programme rather than by year: US$7,000–18,000 per programme covers the online, non-thesis and thesis routes. 30 per cent of its students are international, the highest share here.

Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul. US$7,000–15,000 per year, with health-sciences programmes at the top of that band, and rolling document-review admission rather than a fixed closing date. Full profiles are on our Türkiye university list.

Scholarships for a master’s

Türkiye Bursları (Türkiye Scholarships) is the national scheme, and citizens of all nine of our origin countries are eligible. It pays tuition in full at the placing university, gives a state dormitory place, a return flight and a stipend of TRY 4,500–9,000 per month, across roughly 5,000 awards a year at all levels. You apply to the scheme rather than to a university, and it assigns both. The age limit is 35 and the academic floor 70%. The 2027/28 dates are not yet published; the last window opened 10 January 2026 and closed 20 February 2026. Holders take a compulsory Turkish year to C1 even when the degree is taught in English, and the award is cancelled if you hold another international or Turkish public scholarship. Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters is open to the same nine countries and pays full tuition plus €1,400 per month, through each consortium. University waivers exist too, mostly for thesis master’s. See our Türkiye scholarships page.

How to apply for a master’s in Türkiye

1. Shortlist by language of instruction. Confirm teaching is in English; a Turkish-medium offer adds a preparatory year.
2. Prove your institution is recognised. Request the Okul Tanıma Belgesi through e-Devlet. An apostille is needed (yes) for Hague Convention countries; others use consular legalisation.
3. Apply to the institute, not to a portal. Direct to the graduate institute (Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü) of each university; there is no national graduate portal. The national rule is an ALES score of at least 55 weighted at a minimum of 50% of the admission score, but ALES is sat in Turkish, so institutes accept GRE/GMAT in its place from international applicants and several admit conditionally without either. Türkiye Bursları runs a parallel funded route with the same 10 January-20 February window.
4. Diarise each closing date. No national deadline — set per university. Representative official example: Bilkent University Graduate School (MFBE), Fall 2026 intake: system opened 2026-02-10, regular deadline 2026-06-01, late deadline 2026-07-01; expect an analogous June-July window for 2027/28.
5. Sit your English test early. Book IELTS or TOEFL to the band your shortlist publishes, and check which universities refuse it.
6. Assemble the money file. Bank statement (own or sponsor/guarantor) or scholarship confirmation letter, plus the guarantor’s bank and salary records.
7. Take the offer to the consulate, then to migration. Apply for the education-purpose visa at home, then file the residence permit after arrival; the maximum is 13 weeks. See our Türkiye student visa guide.

After the master’s

A graduate can apply for the Kisa donem ikamet izni (post-graduation short-term residence permit) for graduates of a Turkish higher-education institution, under Law No.6458. Apply within six months of finishing; it runs 12 months and costs about TRY 27,751.60 at that duration. It carries no right to work on its own: a separate work permit is always required (yes), though master’s and doctoral graduates face no waiting period for one, unlike bachelor’s students. In August 2026 YÖK told universities the permit can be extended by a further year, to two in total. As of September 2026 no public regulation text has been published, so treat the second year as announced, not settled. A thesis master’s is the normal entry to a Doktora — see our PhD in Türkiye page.