BASIS OF APPLICATIONBECA COLOMBIA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR FOREIGNERS 2024-02
ICETEXICETEX, as an Institution of the Colombian State that promotes Higher Education throughgranting educational credits and international cooperation scholarships to the population withlower economic possibilities and with good academic performance, oversees granting economic
aid to foreign citizens within the framework of the Strategy of Reciprocity for foreigners and its
program, Beca Colombia.
Reciprocity scholarships offer two types of applications:• For foreigners who wish to pursue postgraduate studies in specialization, master’s, anddoctorate degrees in public and private Colombian higher education institutions in accordancewith the "2024-2 ACADEMIC OFFER CATALOG", which is published along with the open call.
• For foreigners from non-Spanish speaking countries who wish to carry out postgraduate studies
in specialization, master’s, and doctorate degrees in public and private Colombian higher
education institutions and who need to strengthen the Spanish language to carry out postgraduate
studies in Colombia in accordance with the "2024-2 ACADEMIC OFFER CATALOG 2024-2”,
which is published along with the call.
*Note: The beneficiary must present two letters of acceptance; A letter of acceptance to the
Spanish course and a letter of acceptance to a specialization, master's or doctoral program
offered in the “ACADEMIC OFFER CATALOG 2024-2”. Once the Spanish course has beensuccessfully completed, the beneficiary must begin the postgraduate program to which he or she
was admitted in 2025-1.

1. TO WHOM IS THE PROGRAM AVAILABLE TO?
The reciprocity scholarships are aimed at foreign citizens of any nationality who do not have dual
nationality (Colombian), who are not residing in Colombia, who have not been beneficiaries of thesame program in previous calls and who have a professional or bachelor's degree.
2. DEFINITIONS:• Candidates: Foreign citizens who apply to the call for the Colombia Scholarship Program andwho complete the application on the platform correctly.

• Selected: Candidates who, after making their online application and being evaluated, arechosen by ICETEX for the granting of scholarships or non-reimbursable financial support within
the framework of the Beca Colombia program.
• Not selected: Candidates who, after making their online application and being evaluated, arenot chosen as scholarship holders because they do not meet any of the requested requirements
or because they do not obtain the quota provided by the academic program of the offer, in thecase of the academic programs that offer limited quotas and several foreigners requested thesame program.
• Scholars: Foreign citizens who have been selected by ICETEX and who accept the scholarshipand its commitments.
3. DURATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIP OR NON-REFUNDABLE FINANCIAL SUPPORT:The scholarships for postgraduate studies in Colombia will have a maximum duration according
to the modality as follows:
MODALITY
Perfectioning of Spanish

PERIOD OF STUDY
COVERED BY THESCHOLARSHIPUp to 6 months

Specialization

Up to 18 months (3academic semesters)

Master´s

Up to 24 months (4academic semesters)

Doctorate

Up to 48 months (8academic Semesters)

Considering that the scholarships are awarded annually, due to the annual budget validity of
ICETEX, scholarship holders who attend academic programs longer than 12 months must request
renewal from ICETEX each year, for the continuity of the corresponding study program.
The renewal will be subject to compliance with the requirements established by ICETEX,
including:a) Renewal request letter.
b) Certificate of grades with accumulated average of the program. (at least 4.0/5.0).
c) Experience report signed by the tutor or director of the academic program.

d) Certificate from the University stating the current enrollment and the duration of the current
academic program.
4. COVERAGE OR BENEFITS OF THE COLOMBIA SCHOLARSHIP:a) Enrollment:
The coverage of the entire tuition will be granted by the Colombian higher education institution(only for the academic programs that are within the catalog of academic offer, published in the2024-2 call).
b) Health Policy/Medical Insurance:
Medical and hospital assistance in Colombia that includes repatriation in case of disability ordeath. This assistance is only covered during the study period in Colombia and only to thescholarship recipient, it is not extended to family members. Scholars must bear the cost ofprescription drugs and a moderate fee for medical examinations.
c) Courtesy visa:
ICETEX will send each fellow a letter for the online application of the courtesy visa type “V” visa,
which will be granted by the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the study period. Thisvisa is only for the fellow. If you require a visa for family members, they must apply for a visa on
their behalf.
d) Living Expenses/monthly support:
ICETEX will support each foreign scholarship holder with a monthly support (living expenses)
amounting to three current legal monthly minimum wages. In 2025, the adjustment will be madeaccording to the increase in the minimum wage decreed by the Colombian Ministry of Labor. This
item will be granted only to those who are in Colombian territory carrying out in person studies.
e) Installation expenses:
ICETEX will support each scholarship holder with an amount for installation expenses inColombia, for the only time in the study period. This item will be granted only to those who are in
Colombian territory carrying out in person studies.
f) Expenses of books and materials:
For each year of study, ICETEX will support each scholarship holder with a value for books andmaterials, specialization scholarship holders will receive a single support, master's scholarship
holders will receive up to two supports and doctorate scholarship holders between three and fouraccording to the time of their study. doctorate.
g) Foreign Identification “Cedula de Extranjeria:

This is a financial support equivalent to 250,000 COP, which will be paid only once during theentire study program to cover costs related to the issuance of the Foreign Identification id “Cedula
d eExtranjeria”. This item will be granted in the first stipend received by the scholarship recipient
once the foreign identification and bank certificate have been issued and sent to ICETEX.
5. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE APPLICATION TO THE CALL:a) be a foreign citizenb) Not have Colombian nationality.
c) Not be residing, nor have resided the last 6 months prior to applying for the scholarship in
Colombian territory or have started studies in Colombia at the time of application to thecorresponding call.
d) In case of being selected, scholars can be asked by ICETEX to provide the Certificate ofMigratory Movements, with a date no greater than 30 days at the time of entering Colombian
territory.
e) Must not have any marital or de facto relationship in Colombia.
f) Not having been a beneficiary of ICETEX through the Beca Colombia program.
g) Not be older than 50 years.
h) Have a cumulative general average of 4.0 out of 5.0 in undergraduate to apply the call.
According to the grading scale of each country, the note must be equivalent to a minimum of 4.0
for the Colombian scale. *It is not valid to present postgraduate average.
i) Have a professional, undergraduate, or graduate degree in any area of knowledge.
j) Have admission to at least between one and three postgraduate programs found in the
Academic Offer Catalog 2024-2 annexed to this announcement. In case of applying to Spanish
courses, the admission of the Institution offering the Spanish course will be suspended.
k) Have good physical and mental health, certified by a doctor.
6. OBSERVATIONS:• The Academic Offer Catalog 2024-02 is a consolidated list of programs that are offered by
Colombian universities or educational institutions that are part of the reciprocity program forforeigners in Colombia. In this catalog you will find the quotas for each program offered. For thecases in which a quota is offered per program, if several foreign candidates who meet therequirements apply to the same program, the quota will be obtained by the candidate with thehighest score in the evaluation.

• The selected foreign candidate will not be able to change the Program or the University, andonly the definitive admission letter(s) presented within the documentation initially received by
ICETEX will be taken. The candidate can apply to up to three postgraduate programs that are in
the catalog and in the letter of motivation must establish the priority of each one. The above isdone to have more options to obtain a place in the call.
Note: Scholarship holders who take Spanish courses will be excepted.
• It is necessary to clarify that the candidate must incur the admission costs established by the
Colombian higher education institutions to which they wish to apply.
• Each candidate must personally apply for admission to postgraduate programs directly withhigher education institutions or universities.
• All documents must be attached to the application platform; no physical documents will bereceived for any reason or outside the deadline of the call.
• Colombian Higher Education Institutions that participate in the framework of the Beca Colombia
program are registered in the Colombian Ministry of Education. The validation of titles in thescholar’s country of origin is not the responsibility of ICETEX.

No

1.

Document
Letter of preadmission or
finaladmissionfrom theuniversity

Description

The letter of final admission to the academic program must be issued by
the Colombian university to which the foreign candidate applied and mustspecify the start and end dates of the academic program. The candidate
may submit from one to three letters and must establish the priority order of
each academic program in the essay. All letters of admission must be forprograms that start in the second semester of 2024. Letters of admission
will not be accepted for programs that start in the first semester of 2024,
nor in later semesters

Quantity
Minimum 1
letter, 3
letters
maximum.

2.

3.

Letter of
Academic
Recommendati
onThis letter must be issued by a professor at the university where you
completed your undergraduate studies. This letter must be dated 2024.
Letters from previous years will not be received.

1 lettermínimum, 2 lettersmaximum

Certificate ofMigratory
Movements

In case of being selected, ICETEX can ask the scholar to provide theCertificate of Migratory Movements of the last year to ensure that thescholar is not residing in Colombia

1Document that certifies the undergraduate or graduate studies in which aminimum average of 4 out of 5 or its equivalent to the Colombian grade
scale must be accredited. It is necessary for the university where you
studied to certify the grading scale where the minimum passing grade isrecorded, to be able to establish a comparison with the Colombian grading
system. This document may be evaluated in Spanish, Portuguese, Frenchor English, if your original language is not either of these four, you must
attach official translation into Spanish or English
Academic essay of a maximum of two (2) pages that argues theimportance of studying in Colombia and the impact it will generate foryour personal and professional development, and the application upon
your return to your country of origin. If the candidate applies to several
programs, in the essay
you must set the order of priority, from 1 to 3.

4.

Certificate ofundergraduate
or graduatetranscripts

5.

Essay

6.

Copy ofvalid
passport

Copy of the first page of the current passport (with a minimum validity of
one year). This copy must be of the page on which the applicant's
information and photo appear.

1

Copiesuniversity
degrees or
diplomas

The copy of the diploma must be certified by the home university or may benotarized. IMPORTANT: Please DO NOT attach a copy of diplomas, shortcourses, or workshops.

1Document of resume that references undergraduate, postgraduate studies
and professional experiences. It can be in any format, but a maximum of
two pages.

1

7.

8.

Resume or CV

9.

HealthCertificate

10.

Professional
Experience
Certificate

The health certificate must indicate your state of physical and mental
health. It may not be greater than thirty days at the time of applying to thecall.
It must have the signature and stamp of the doctor who issued thecertificate.
Certifications of professional experience of at least one year are required.
These must contain the positions held, the duration and the functions
performed. (It is valid to attach internship certifications

8. STAGES OF THE 2024-2 CALL

1

1

1

Minimum 1

EtapaClosing of the 2024-02 Call
Evaluation and selection of candidates
Email notification to candidates about selection
and non-selection
Scholarship acceptance process by those
selected
Start of studies in Colombia

Fecha
June 9th 2024
From June 10th to June 19th
2024
June 20th 2024
From June 21st to the 23rd
According to the Academic
Programa

NOTE: All applications must be submitted no later than June 9th 2024, on the ICETEX platform.
Documents that are not received within the dates agreed and stipulated in the Call will not be
evaluated.
9. APPLICATION:
Foreign candidates may submit their application online at the following link:
https://portal.icetex.gov.co/Portal/Home/HomeEstudiante/becas/programa-de-reciprocidad-paraextranjeros-en-colombia/becas-colombia-extranjeros
The applicant must guarantee the legitimacy, validity and veracity of the documentation provided
for the award of the scholarship. However, ICETEX reserves the right to verify the veracity of the
documents and data contained in the application.
If the manifest falsity or alteration of the documents provided by the candidate is verified, theapplication will be immediately rejected, without prejudice to its referral to the Attorney General's
Office, in accordance with the Law.
The Scholarship Committee, based on the information of the applicants presented, and based on
the required application requirements, will proceed to award the scholarships, subject to theavailability of resources.
10. SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION CRITERIA:• Academic excellence (30%)• Coherence between the academic and professional career and the studies to be carried out(30%)

• Professional experience (20%)• Geographical location of the Colombian teaching center (10%)• Reciprocity of cooperation of the country of origin (10%)

11. SCHOLARSHIP ACCEPTANCE PROCESS:a. Scholarship Acceptance:
Foreign candidates who are selected and notified will have a deadline stipulated in the notification
email to accept the scholarship. The answer must be sent to the email where you receive theselection notification. Failure to provide a response within this period of time implies thewithdrawal of the scholarship without giving rise to subsequent complaints or claims and the quota
may be awarded to another candidate.
b. Letter of Commitments:
The selected candidates must send by email the "Letter of Commitments", which must be readand signed by each fellow. Said letter will stipulate the academic, migratory and legal
commitments and obligations that the scholarship recipient must comply with during their study
period in order to retain the benefit of the scholarship.
c. Courtesy Visa Letter:
The selected candidates will receive from ICETEX a letter addressed to the Coordinator of theInternal Working Group, Visas, and Immigration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, orto the Consul of Colombia in their country of origin, with the pertinent information of thescholarship recipient for obtain your Courtesy Visa. Each fellow must apply for their courtesy visa
online on the Ministry's website. For this visa, the fellow must not make any payment and must
follow the instructions in the visa application manual sent when notification of selection isreceived. If the visa application is denied, and the scholarship recipient has been selected topursue a face-to-face academic program, ICETEX will be obliged to permanently suspend thescholarship awarded.
d. Welcome Logistics Note:
The selected candidates will receive a note with useful information for their stay in Colombia tofacilitate the scholars arrival to Colombia.
12. DISBURSEMENTS OR DEPOSITS FOR LIVING EXPENSES:

For the payment of the money corresponding to the assigned items, which will be made quarterly,
the scholarship holder must open a savings account in Colombia, in any bank in the city where
he is going to study, and for this, he must present the Foreigner ID. Bank accounts cannot be
opened with the passport, and the scholarship deposit will not be made until the scholarship
recipient has the bank certificate relating to their foreign identity card as an identification
document. Once the foreign scholarship recipient has this document, they must submit to the
ICETEX International Relations Office, via email, the certification issued by the financial institution
stating the account number and the identification number (foreigner's ID).
It is necessary for the scholarship holder to have economic support for at least 3 monthsof support (approximately 700 USD per month), since the first payment for maintenance,
installation, and book expenses will be made when the scholarship holder has met the shipping
requirements. Alien identity card, bank account certificate in Colombia, address, and mobile
phone in Colombia. This draft will be processed upon receipt of the documents and thescholarship holder will receive resources in a maximum of 6 weeks after this.
The payment of support will depend on the start date of the scholar's academic program, and noton the time spent in Colombia. That is, if the scholarship recipient enters the country one month
before the start of the program, the resources will be deposited considering the official start dateof the Academic Program, which has to be reflected in the letter of acceptance of the University
in which the Scholar will begin his studies.
The support payment for the following months will be made during the month that corresponds tothe beginning of each quarter (which is equivalent to every three months). That is, the support
payment will be made quarterly in advance, for example, the support for the months of April, May
and June will be paid during April and so on.
13. COMMITMENTS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP HOLDER:
To obtain the best results in academic activities and to achieve an enriching experience, and tomaintain their well-being and safety, the scholarship recipient must fully comply with the following:
Legal Obligations:a) Comply with and abide by Colombian laws, including the laws established on sexual crimes.
b) Respect the rules of conduct and social customs.
c) Carry out the courtesy visa and foreigner identity card procedures within the required times,
making sure not to let these documents expire, as this would generate fines and penalties. If thescholarship recipient violates the foregoing, he must assume the additional costs of theprocedures.
Academic Obligations:a) Carry out the academic program within the same period for which the scholarship was
approved, that is, it is not possible to change programs or universities. Likewise, you must
successfully complete the academic program, within the estimated times. You will not be able todefer subjects or academic credits.
b) Devote your time to the completion of the academic program, since you are not allowed toestablish employment contracts, under any modality, while you have the status of an ICETEX
scholarship holder. The TP1 Visa endorsed by ICETEX does not allow you to work.
c) Maintain a minimum academic average of 4.0 out of 5.0d) Submit an experience report each quarter for which you will be informed of the dates andmethodology in which they must be delivered (it should be noted that, if the reports are notsubmitted on the stipulated dates, ICETEX will not make the disbursement corresponding to thefollowing trimester until the scholarship recipient sends the documents).
e) Comply fully with the rules of the institution where they study.
f) Permanently update contact and address information with ICETEX.
g) Attend all meetings convened by ICETEX.
h) Submit to ICETEX a copy of the degree diploma and degree certificate.
Special Obligations:a) The fellow agrees NOT to participate in illicit activities related to money laundering and thefinancing of terrorism and crimes that are the source of these. Likewise, to communicate to
ICETEX or a competent authority all the information that it knows regarding these crimes.
IMPORTANT:
If the scholarship recipient does not meet one or more of the scholarship requirements, it will besuspended as well as their “V” type courtesy visa and they must travel to their country
immediately.
14. SUSPENSION OF THE SCHOLARSHIP:ICETEX may temporarily or permanently suspend the disbursements of the scholarship, when
the scholarship recipient incurs in any of the following cases:
TEMPORARY SUSPENSION:
The temporary suspension of the scholarship implies the suspension of disbursements in thefollowing cases:• Due to illness, mental or physical incapacity, which temporarily prevents the scholarship
recipient from continuing their educational activities, duly justified, for a maximum of a six-monthacademic period.
• For not sending the quarterly experience reports that certify the fulfillment of academic
obligations, grades, and attendance, which is signed by the Coordinator or tutor of the Study
Program being carried out.
OBSERVATIONS:
Once the event has occurred, the scholarship recipient must inform ICETEX within a period notexceeding that required for the next disbursement, otherwise the scholarship will be permanently
suspended. Once the cause for which the execution of the scholarship was temporarilysuspended has been overcome, the scholarship recipient must inform ICETEX to continue
receiving the support benefit.
DEFINITIVE SUSPENSION:ICETEX may permanently suspend disbursements or not renew the scholarship, when one of thefollowing cases occurs:• Due to abandonment of studies as established in the Application Bases/Regulations of theColombia Scholarship Program.
• Due to the non-granting of the courtesy visa to carry out a face-to-face academic program.
• Due to expulsion from the educational center, taking into account that they did not comply withthe regulations of the institution.
• For not accrediting the required academic average corresponding to the immediately preceding
academic period.

• By verified presentation of modification or changes in order to provide information that allows
you to be a beneficiary of the program.
• For not submitting the academic documents required in the commitment letter within theestablished times.
• Due to illness, mental or physical incapacity that prevents the scholarship recipient fromdefinitively continuing their academic activities.
• At the express request of the scholarship holder duly justified.
*This suspension will be resolved by the Colombia Scholarship Program Committee.

15. MONITORING AND CONTROL:
The follow-up and control of foreign scholarship holders will be in charge of ICETEX, through theInternational Relations Office, which will monitor the scholarship holders' experience and will
make the transfers or payments of these commitments in a timely manner.
16. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
For additional information, you should contact the ICETEX International Relations Office. email:beca_colombia@icetex.gov.co
Bogota, March 4th, 2024.

OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSCOLOMBIAN INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL CREDIT AND TECHNICAL STUDIESABROAD-ICETEX