Scholarships for young Indians: who qualifies, how to apply, and named schemes

India runs more than six hundred named scholarships at central and state levels for school students, college students, and post-graduate researchers. Eligibility is most often tied to family income, social category, gender, or merit. The application process runs through the National Scholarships Portal for central schemes and through state-specific portals for state schemes.

YouthPower tracks 631 schemes in this category, of which 116 are central government programmes and 515 are state government programmes.

What to look for when applying

Income certificate, caste certificate where applicable, last year's mark sheet, bank account in the student's name, Aadhaar linkage. Most scholarships disburse directly to bank account once verified.

Named examples

• AICTE – Saksham Scholarship Scheme For Specially-Abled Student (Degree) (Central · scholarship · Ministry of Education)
  Saksham is a Scholarship Scheme by the Ministry of Education, implemented by AICTE, aimed at providing encouragement and support to specially-abled children to pursue technical education. This is an attempt to give every young specially-abled student the opportunity to study further.
• AICTE – Saksham Scholarship Scheme For Specially-Abled Student (Diploma) (Central · scholarship · Ministry of Education)
  Saksham is a Scholarship Scheme by the Ministry of Education, implemented by AICTE, aimed at providing encouragement and support to specially-abled children to pursue technical education. This is an attempt to give every young specially-abled student the opportunity to study further.
• AICTE-Quality Improvement (Foreign University) Programme (Central · scholarship · Ministry of Education)
  The All India Council for Technical Education in its 55th Meeting of the Council held on 14th August 2018 approved the Quality Improvement Programme (Foreign University) (QIP-FU). The QIP(FU) is an extension of the QIP program launched by the Government of India in the year 1970.
• AICTE-Swanath Scholarship Scheme For Students (Central · scholarship · Ministry of Education)
  A scholarship scheme by the Student Development Cell (StDC) of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to provide encouragement and support to orphans, wards of parents who died due to Covid-19, wards of Armed Forces, and Central Paramilitary Forces martyred in action (Shaheed).
• ASEAN-India Research Training Fellowship (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Science And Technology)
  The “ASEAN-India Research Training Fellowship (AI-RTF)” is a fellowship scheme initiated by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India under ASEAN-India Science & Technology Development Fund to support young talented researchers/scientists of ASEAN member countries.
• Award Of Scholarships To Young Artists In Different Cultural Fields (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Culture)
  The scheme “Award of Scholarships to Young Artists in Different Cultural Fields” was launched by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
• Awarding Teleeducation Scholarships To Afghan Students (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of External Affairs)
  The "Awarding Teleeducation Scholarships To Afghan Students" scheme under e-VidyaBharati Network Project, launched by the Ministry of External Affairs, offers 1000 annual scholarships to Afghan students for UGC-approved online UG and PG programs from Indian universities.
• BSR Fellowship Scheme for Science Students - UGC (Central · scholarship · Ministry of Education)
  The objective of the scheme is to provide opportunities to meritorious candidates to undertake advanced studies and research leading to Ph.D. degrees in sciences.
• CBSE Merit Scholarship Scheme For Single Girl Child (Central · scholarship · Ministry of Education)
  A scholarship scheme by the Ministry of Education for meritorious Single Girl Students, who are the only child of their parents; and have passed the CBSE Class 10th Examination with 60% or more marks and are continuing their further school education of Class 11th and 12th.
• CIFE - Institutional Fellowship (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare)
  From the year 2010 onwards, the division is offering Masters and PhD in two disciplines namely Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology and Fish physiology and Biochemistry with an objective of moulding professionals with fundamental and advanced knowledge and expertise.
• Central Sector Scheme of National Fellowship for Providing Fellowship to Scheduled Caste Students to Pursue M.Phil. & PhD (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment)
  The scheme provides opportunities to Scheduled Castes students to pursue higher education leading to M.Phil/Ph.D degrees in Sciences, Humanities and Social Science streams. The objective of the scheme is to provide fellowships in the form of financial assistance to SC students.
• Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students for studying in India (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment)
  The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to OBC students studying at the post-matriculation or post-secondary stage to enable them to complete their education. These scholarships shall be available for studies in India only and will be disbursed via Direct Benefit Transfer.

The most active ministries in this category are Ministry of Education, Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry Of Science And Technology, Ministry Of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry Of Tribal Affairs.

States with the highest number of dedicated state-government schemes in this category are All, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala, Haryana, Puducherry.

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