Central Sector Scholarship 2022-23 –Scholarship Scheme for College & University Students

Central Sector Scholarship – Objective

Offered to meritorious students, the Central Sector Scholarship Scheme for College and University Students aims to provide monetary support to those students who come from low-income group families. The fund provided under this scholarship helps the candidate to meet his/her daily expenses incurred while pursuing graduate or postgraduate studies in general or professional courses.

Central Sector Scholarship – Awards

Central Sector Scholarship awards a total of 82,000 scholarships every year. 50% of the scholarship is earmarked for girl candidates and the remaining 50% is for boy candidates. All these scholarships are distributed to the State Education Boards on the basis of the population of 18-25 years age group in the respective State after segregating the share of CBSE and ICSE.

Furthermore, the scholarships allotted to State Education Boards are divided in the ratio of 3:2:1 among the pass-outs of Science, Commerce, and Arts, respectively. The selected students receive the scholarship amount directly into their account through Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) mode. Given below is the detail of rewards given under the Central Sector Scholarship scheme.

Award Money of Central Sector Scholarship Scheme

Central Sector Scholarship – Key Dates

This merit-cum-means scholarship is generally announced every year in the month of July and its deadline falls in the last week of October. The application period varies from year to year and is subject to change at the discretion of the scholarship provider. For the academic sessions 2022-23, the last date to apply for the scholarship is 30 October 2022.

Central Sector Scholarship – Eligibility Criteria

The Central Sector Scholarship scheme is meant for those bright students who belong to economically disadvantaged families. While applying for this merit-cum-means scholarship, the applicants must make sure that they are above the 80^th percentile of successful students in the relevant stream in the class 12 board exam. Find below more details about the eligibility criteria needed to apply for the scholarship.

• The applicants must be in the top 20^th percentile merit list of class 12 results of concerned boards (SEB/CBSE/ICSE).
• The candidates must be pursuing regular courses of graduation/postgraduation/professional studies from colleges/universities recognized by AICTE, UGC, MCI, DCI, or other regulatory bodies.
• The candidates belonging to reserved categories of SC, ST, OBC, and PWD will get a reservation of 15%, 7.5%, 27%, and 5%, respectively.
• The candidates’ annual family income must not exceed INR 8 Lakh.
• The applicants must not be availing of any other scholarship benefits.
• Also, those students who are pursuing Diploma courses are not eligible for this merit-cum-means scholarship.

Central Sector Scholarship – Application Process

To make the application process easy and accessible for applicants, MHRD allows students to fill out the scholarship application form online through the government scholarship portal, the National Scholarship Portal (NSP). Follow the steps given below to fill out the Central Sector Scholarship application form.

• Applicants applying to NSP for the first time need to register with NSP as new users.

• Fill in all the required information and click on ‘Register’ to get registered. A student application ID and password are generated on the registered mobile number.
• The applicants need to log in to NSP using the newly generated ID and password. An OTP is sent on the registered mobile number using which the candidate must change his/her password.

• Once the password is changed, the candidates are directed to Applicant’s Dashboard Page, where applicants need to click on ‘Application form’ to start the application process.
• The applicants need to provide all the necessary details such as registration details, academic details, basic details, contact details, and scheme details.
• All the required documents in support of identity and academic eligibility must be uploaded by the applicants.
• Now, the filled-in application form must be saved as a draft so that the applicant can check every detail once again to make sure they are correct.
• Finally, the candidate must click on the ‘Submit’ button to submit the completed scholarship application form.

Note: These online scholarships submitted by the candidates are verified at two levels – one at the institute level where the candidate is studying and the other at the education board level through which the candidate passed his/her class 12 exam.

Central Sector Scholarship – Key Documents

There are a few necessary documents that the applicants must keep with them ready at the time of the application process. The list of the required documents for the Central Sector Scholarship Scheme for College and University Students is given below.

• Bank passbook issued in the name of the applicant for filling bank details
• Aadhaar card number (In case Aadhaar is not yet assigned, alternatives like Aadhaar enrolment ID slip, voter ID card, driving license, PAN, passport, etc. can be used
• Income certificate issued by the competent authority
• Caste certificate, if applicable
• Disability certificate, if applicable
• Class 12 mark sheet

Central Sector Scholarship – Renewal Policy

The beneficiaries of this merit-cum-means scholarship are eligible to receive the scholarship for a maximum period of 5 years which includes both graduation and postgraduation period. The candidates must be pursuing graduation and post-graduation in the same stream. Moreover, the candidates must fulfill the prescribed eligibility criteria in order to get the scholarship renewed.

• The students must have secured at least 50% or more marks in the previous exam.
• The students must maintain an attendance of at least 75%.
• The candidates must not be involved in any ragging activities.
• The candidates can apply on NSP for renewal of this merit-cum-means scholarship.