When I say “Scholarship”, many questions must come to your mind at once! Do they really give these scholarships? Are they genuine? When and how do I apply? Oh wait, I have to be exceptionally talented to even apply right?
You want the truth? Yes. Scholarships are awarded to encourage talent, and make sure that money is not a criteria to hold back from attaining the kind of education you deserve. So if you are someone who thinks they deserve to have the best education and are not afraid to prove it, or know someone who can use such scholarships, you should read on. Here is a list of the 7 most popular and genuine scholarships for Indian students who want to pursue their college education in Indian institutes:
The Scientist Zone
1. INSPIRE Scholarship
Inspire is an initiative by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, to offer financial aid to students for pursuing courses in Basic and Natural Sciences. This particular program is called the Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE).
Scholarship Eligibility – Students who rank in the top 1% in 12th standard in their board examinations, and are admitted to any B.Sc. or integrated M.Sc. courses are eligible. Students who fall into the top 10,000 ranks in JEE (Mains & Advanced) and NEET are also eligible for this scholarship, if they choose to pursue basic and natural sciences. Recently from the year 2024, the KVPY exam was abolished, and has been subsumed with INSPIRE. So students eligible for the KVPY exam will be eligible to apply for the SHE Inspire scholarship.
Scholarship Amount – INR 80,000 per student each year
No. of Seats – 12,000 students are offered this award every year
Application Time – Application starts in November every year
What’s Special – The special feature of this scholarship is that it has no separate entrance examination. It selects the awardees on the basis of existing educational infrastructure. It also provides mentorship support to each scholar.
Check it out – http://www.online-inspire.gov.in/Account/INSPIREProgramme
Recommended Read: 14 Simple Hacks To Improve Your Memory
The All-Is-Well Zone
2. HDFC Educational Crisis Scholarship Support
HDFC Scholarship is an initiative by the HDFC Bank to help students in times of crisis such as death of a parent, life-threatening illness, or loss of job of the earning parent, etc. The aim is to support students belonging to the underprivileged sections of the society.
Scholarship Eligibility – The ECSS programme is available to school students, undergraduate and postgraduate aspirants on merit and/or need basis, with a family income equal or less than 2.5 Lakhs per annum, or family facing a critical financial situation in the past 3 years.
Scholarship Amount:
For School – INR 15,000 t0 18,000For College – INR 30,000 for general undergraduate courses and 50,000 for professional undergraduate courses.
For postgraduate courses, scholarships amounting up to 75,000 will be provided. No. of Seats – More than 1,000 students receive this award every year
Application Time – Application deadline is usually in the month of January.
What’s Special – Students from any stream or course can apply for this scholarship; this flexibility helps the student pick any course of his/her choice.
Check it out – https://www.hdfcbank.com/htdocs/common/ECSS_scholarship.htm
3. Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA)
The objective of FAEA is to provide financial support to students belonging to the socially and economically disadvantaged sections of the society, for undergraduate studies. They provide assistance up to 3 years of study and may extend for 2 years in post-graduation dependent on academic excellence and funds available.
Scholarship Eligibility – Students belonging to the economically-weaker section in the SC/ST/BPL category, who have passed class 12th or are in their first year of college can apply for this scholarship.
Scholarship Amount – The Scholarship covers full or partial cost of study of the student, so it varies
No. of Seats – 50 or more students are offered this scholarship every year, number may vary each year.
Application Time – Application starts in May/June every year
What’s Special – Students from any stream or course are eligible for this scholarship; what’s more, it covers a wide range of expenses such as tuition fee, hostel fee, maintenance allowance, books, etc.
Check it out – http://www.faeaindia.org/
The Technical Zone
4. Indian Oil Academic Scholarships
Indian Oil offers scholarships to students on the criteria of merit and means who want to pursue engineering, medical and management streams.
Scholarship Eligibility – Students who have passed 12th standard from an Indian Board, ITI Diploma, and are in the first year of B.Tech, M.B.B.S., or MBA are eligible for this scholarship.
Scholarship Amount:
For 10 and ITI – INR 1000 per month for 2 years
For B.Tech. & M.B.B.S. – INR 3000 per month for 4 years
For MBA – INR 3000 per month for 2 years
No. of Seats – 2600 students are offered this scholarship every year
Application Time – Application starts in the month of July and continues till October
What’s Special – This scholarship relies on marks in 12th standard, and does not hold any separate entrance examination. It is also one of the few scholarships for engineering students.
Check it out – https://www.iocl.com/Aboutus/AcademicScholarships.aspx
5. Aditya Birla Scholarship
The Aditya Birla scholarship is an initiative by the Aditya Birla Group to encourage the bright scholars of our country.
Scholarship Eligibility – This scholarship is available for students studying in premier institutions of engineering, law and management. These are the colleges that are covered in this initiative:
- Management: IIMs Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Khozikode & Shillong,
XLRI – Jamshedpur - Engineering (B. Tech): IITs Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati, BITS Pilani: All campuses
- Law: National Law School of India University, Bangalore, NALSAR University of Law – Hyderabad,
The WB National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, National Law University – Jodhpur, Gujarat National Law University, National Law University, Delhi
Scholarship Amount (per student):
For Management – INR 3,00,000 each year
For Engineering – INR 1,50,000 each year
For Law – Up to INR 1,80,000 each year
No. of Seats – Only the top 20 students of the respective entrance examinations (in each institution) are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
Application Time – Application for Law and Engineering students takes place during August. Application for Management students takes place in July.
What’s Special – This scholarship takes into account the overall development of a student, taking into account the extracurriculars, co-curriculars and essays written by applicants along with academic excellence,while making selections. It covers a major part of tuition fee as well as hostel fee. The bright students also have an option to join the Aditya Birla Group after they graduate. Yay!
Check it out – http://www.adityabirlascholars.net/index.aspx
The Girls Are The Best Zone
6. AICTE Pragati Scholarship for Girls
The AICTE Pragati Scholarship is an initiative for young women to continue their higher education in the technical field. This scholarship is aimed to provide assistance to the education of girls belonging to economically weaker families whose family income from all sources should not be more than 8 Lakhs per annum
Scholarship Eligibility – The student should be enrolled in a degree or diploma course in 1st year or second year of degree course through lateral entry in any AICTE-approved institution.
Scholarship Amount – The scholarship offers tuition fee up to INR 50,000 per annum and INR 2000 per month for 10 months.
No. of Seats – A total of 5000 girls are awarded this scholarship every year, in addition 5000 scholarships for girls applying online from 13 union territories.
Application Time – Application for this scholarship starts around August/September
What’s Special – This award is one of the best initiatives to boost female education in India. It does not add the pressure of a separate entrance examination for students.
Check it out – http://www.aicte-india.org/pragathiSaksham.php
7. The Sashakt Scholarship
The Sashakt scholarship is for young women to build their careers in the science domain. The aim is to encourage the academically bright students belonging to the under-served communities to pursue science and provide them financial support throughout their undergraduate studies.
Scholarship Eligibility – Students who opt to study B.Tech., M.B.B.S. and natural/ pure sciences in B.Sc. will be eligible for this scholarship.
Scholarship Amount – 2,40,000 in total for 3 years, making it 80,000 per year which includes tuition fees, study expenses and basic living cost.
No. of seats – Limited seats (Last year 30 students were awarded the scholarship)
Application time – The scholarship registration begins in the Month of May, and the student has to submit an admission offer along with application latest by the end of November.
What’s Special – These selected scholars have mentorship of women scientists guiding through their prominent aspects of their careers, how to build scientific knowledge and leverage the resources available to them.
Check it out – https://www.sashaktscholarship.org/aboutus/#the-sashakt-scholarship
We hope this list proves to be as helpful for you as we intend it to be. For another list of scholarship options for foreign education, keep updated with us.
