Central Sector Scholarship – The Central Sector Scholarship Scheme for College and University Students, a centrally funded merit-based scholarship, was introduced by the MHRD’s Department of Higher Education.
Each year, 82,000 graduate and postgraduate students get teacher scholarships through the Central Sector Scholarship Program, which was created to provide financial aid to students from low-income families.
Central Sector Scholarship: Objective
The Central Sector Scholarship Scheme for College and University Students is a financial aid program offered to deserving students with the goal of helping students from low-income households.
The money made available through this scholarship aids the applicant in covering the daily costs associated with studying graduate or postgraduate programs in general or professional fields.
Central Sector Scholarship: Amount
- Every year, a scholarship worth Rs 10,000 is awarded for each of the first three years of graduation.
- Rs 20,000 is provided as funding for students in the final two years of a five-year integrated program including professional studies.
- For students pursuing technical studies like a B.Tech. or a B.Eng, the funding is granted up to the graduation level.
- A scholarship of Rs 20,000 is given to students pursuing postgraduate study.
Central Sector Scholarship: Key Dates
This merit-based scholarship is typically announced each year in July, with a deadline in the final week of October.
The deadline for applications differs from year to year and is open for modification at the scholarship provider’s discretion. Additionally, the deadline to submit an application for the scholarship for the academic year 2022–2023 was October 30, 2024.
Central Sector Scholarship: Eligibility Criteria
This program is designed for talented children who come from low-income homes. The applicants must ensure that they scored higher on the class 12 board exam than the top eighty percent of graduates in the appropriate field before submitting an application for this merit-plus-means grant.
Conversely, more information on the requirements to qualify for the scholarship is provided below.
- The candidates must rank in the top 20 percent of the class 12 merit list from the relevant boards (SEB, CBSE, and ICSE).
- The candidates must be enrolled in regular graduation, postgraduate, or professional programs at colleges or universities that are approved by the AICTE, UGC, MCI, DCI, or other governing authorities.
- Candidates who fall under the SC, ST, OBC, or PWD categories will receive reservations of 15%, 7.5%, 27%, and 5%, respectively.
- The candidates’ total annual family income cannot be more than INR 80,000.
- There cannot be any other scholarship advantages being used by the applicants.
- Additionally, students enrolled in diploma programs are not qualified for this merit-based stipend.
Requirements for Central Sector Scholarships in 2024
Only those candidates who are eligible will be given access to the scholarship benefit by the MHRD.
Therefore, all applicants must be aware of the eligibility requirements prior to submitting an application for a CSSS Scholarship award. The Central Sector Scholarship Program will accept applications from students who meet the following requirements in 2024:
- For consideration, candidates must have a grade point average (GPA) that is greater than the 80th percentile of Class XII candidates in the relevant discipline from a certain board of examination.
- An applicant must be enrolled in a traditional course, not one that is provided online or by correspondence.
- The candidate’s family’s combined annual income must be less than Rs. 8 lakh.
- A candidate is ineligible for any additional scholarships or fee waivers.
- Candidates enrolling in diploma programs are not accepted for the Central Sector Scholarship Scheme.
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Application Process
Students may submit their scholarship applications online using the government’s National Scholarship Portal (NSP), which was created to make the procedure simple and accessible for applicants. Fill out the Central Sector Scholarship application by following the instructions below.
- First-time NSP applicants must sign up as new users on the NSP website.
- To register, complete the form to the best of your ability and click “Register.” On the registered cellphone number, an application identification number and password for students are generated.
- The candidates must sign in to NSP with the recently created ID and password. The candidate must reset their password by using the OTP that has been issued to their registered mobile number.
- After changing their passwords, applicants are taken to their dashboard page, where they must select “Application Form” to begin the application process.
- The applicants must submit all required information, including registration information, academic information, basic information, contact information, and scheme information.
- The applicants must, however, upload all of the necessary proofs of their identities and academic qualifications.
- The application form must now be saved as a draft so that the candidate may review every aspect to ensure it is accurate.
- The candidate must then complete and submit the scholarship application form by clicking the ‘Submit’ button.
Key documents
During the application process, candidates must have a few necessary documents ready. The following is a list of the required supporting documents for students applying for a Central Sector Scholarship at a college or university:
- For completing the bank details, a bank passbook provided in the applicant’s name is required.
- The number on an Aadhaar card
- Certification of income from the relevant authority
- If required, a certificate of caste
- where necessary, a certificate of disability
- Pages of grades for class 12
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Renewal Policy
The recipients of this merit-plus-means award are eligible to do so for a total of five years, which covers their time at graduation and their time afterward.
Applicants must be pursuing their undergraduate and graduate degrees in the same field. In addition, the candidates must meet the requirements for eligibility in order for the scholarship to be renewed.
- The pupils’ prior exam scores must have been at least 50% or higher.
- They are required to maintain a minimum attendance rate of 75%.
- Candidates cannot participate in any racial activities.
- For the renewal of this merit-plus-means scholarship, they can apply on NSP.
Summary
All student categories, including the general category, are eligible for the Central Sector Scholarship.
However, according to the guidelines established by the Government of India, exemptions are available for a number of reserved categories.
Scheduled Caste (SC) students are eligible for 15% of the scholarships; also, Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates for 7.5% of the scholarships; Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates for 27% of the scholarships; and Physically Handicapped/Persons who Have Disabilities (PwDs) candidates for 5% of the scholarships.
