Post Matric Scholarship (National Scholarship Portal)

The largest domestic scholarship programme in India, covering fees and maintenance for students after Class 10.

Government of India · India

Applications close — 2026-10-31

AY 2026-27 window opened 1 June 2026; last date for most schemes 31 October 2026. One Time Registration is mandatory before applying, and institute verification follows submission with its own cut-off.

Why this one matters

Reaches more students than every overseas scheme combined, and lapses every year because families miss the portal window.

What it covers

tuition, maintenance allowance. Levels funded: higher secondary, undergraduate, postgraduate.

Who can apply

You must be a citizen of India
Limited to these categories: SC, ST, OBC, Minority, EBC
Family income must be under Rs 8 lakh a year

Where applications fail

Most rejected applications are not ineligible students. They are eligible students who missed a step.

One Time Registration must be completed before you can start an application at all. It needs Aadhaar e-KYC and only one OTR is allowed per student.
After you submit, your institution's nodal officer must verify the application, and that deadline falls after yours. An unverified application is a rejected application.
Defective applications get a short correction window after the main deadline. Miss it and the application dies rather than being returned to you.
The scheme is four separate central schemes, not one. Each has its own ministry and its own rules, and you apply to the one matching your category.

If this one is not for you

Being ruled out of a scheme is not the same as having no options. Here is what is still open.

Income above the scheme ceiling? State schemes often have higher limits than the central ones, and they stack rather than replace.
Missed the window? State portals run on their own calendars and several are open when the central one is closed.
Category not covered? Check your state's own portal. Several states fund categories the central schemes do not.

Record status: verified. Last checked: 2026-09-13. Income ceiling varies by scheme; the engine uses the widest ceiling so no eligible student is wrongly excluded, and the record states that the exact cap is scheme-specific. Source: https://scholarships.gov.in/

Check whether you qualify