Government Scholarships for Karnataka College Students 2026-27

By Eduvy Editorial · 25 September 2026 · Admission 2026

Karnataka college students apply for government scholarships on two portals. Central schemes go through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP): the PM-USP merit scholarship (₹12,000 to ₹20,000 a year) and AICTE's Pragati, Saksham and Swanath (₹50,000 a year each). Fee reimbursement for SC, ST, backward-class and minority students goes through Karnataka's State Scholarship Portal (SSP), not NSP. From 2026-27, you can hold one merit scholarship plus welfare scholarships, so check both portals. Several windows close on 30 September and 31 October 2026.

The 2026-27 scholarship table

"Family income" means gross annual income from all sources. Figures are from the official pages listed under Sources.

• PM-USP: you can apply fresh only if your name is on your board's top-20-percentile list. Diploma students and students who took a drop year cannot apply. There are 82,000 fresh awards a year nationally, half for girls. Renewal needs 50% marks and 75% attendance.
• AICTE: Pragati is awarded on Class 12 marks, state by state. AICTE's guidelines give Karnataka 398 of the 5,000 degree awards. Saksham has no cap for degree students. Swanath is capped at 2,000 a year, and students in any year can apply. Students with disabilities must share their UDID details before NSP accepts an application.
• BCWD: management quota, private seats in private colleges and COMEDK seats are excluded. The minimum marks in the previous exam vary by scheme, from 50% to 70%. Only two sons per family can claim, with no limit on daughters.
• SC prize money: SC students who pass in first class at the first attempt get ₹25,000 for a degree or ₹35,000 for a professional degree. There is no income limit.
• Karnataka windows get extended (BCWD's 2025-26 window ran until 16 May 2026), but apply by the first date anyway.

The 2026-27 change: one merit plus welfare

Until 2025-26, central schemes largely followed "one student, one scholarship". The 2025-26 PM-USP FAQ still bars fresh applicants "receiving any other scholarship or fee reimbursement of any kind".

After a Cabinet Secretariat memorandum of 12 November 2025, NSP now says students "may apply for one merit-based scholarship scheme and one or more welfare-based scholarship schemes from AY 2026–27". AICTE's corrigendum of 18 August 2026 classes Pragati as merit-based, and Saksham and Swanath as welfare-based. Post-matric SC, ST, OBC and minority scholarships are welfare-based.

• PM-USP and Pragati are both merit-based, so you can hold only one of them.
• A Pragati student with a disability can also claim Saksham.
• Getting SC or ST fee reimbursement no longer automatically rules out a merit scholarship. Confirm this in the 2026-27 PM-USP guidelines when they come out.
• Karnataka's own schemes keep their own rules. BCWD students can take its benefit or a centrally sponsored post-matric scholarship, not both. You can take only one of Vidyasiri and the BCWD post-matric scholarship.

How to apply on NSP

1. Seed Aadhaar to your bank account and ask the branch to update the NPCI mapper. Check the status on NPCI's BASE service, which is linked from NSP.
2. Start your One Time Registration (OTR). On scholarships.gov.in, choose "Apply for OTR". Enter your mobile number and Aadhaar (or enrolment ID), then complete e-KYC. You will get a Reference number by SMS.
3. Complete face authentication. On Android, install UIDAI's AadhaarFaceRD app and the NSP OTR app, then use "eKYC with FaceAuth". This gives you a 14-digit OTR, which you keep for your whole course. If it fails, check that your Aadhaar biometrics are not locked.
4. Log in with your OTR, then select your domicile state and "Post-Matric" to create an Application ID.
5. Fill the form. Your name, your father's name and your roll number must exactly match your Class 12 marks card. Choose your college by its AISHE code, and choose the correct course duration. A wrong college cannot be fixed after final submission.
6. Select the scheme, upload documents and submit. After that, you can edit only if a verifier marks the application "defective".
7. Chase verification. Your college's nodal officer verifies first, then the state nodal officer. Applications left unverified are treated as invalid. For the AICTE schemes, institute verification closes on 15 November 2026.
8. Track payment on NSP and on PFMS "Know Your Payment". Renew every year: PM-USP needs the previous year's marks card. AICTE schemes need a promotion certificate and a letter from your head of institution.

How to apply on SSP (Karnataka)

1. Find your department. SC students apply under Social Welfare and ST students under Tribal Welfare. Category-1, 2A, 3A and 3B students apply under Backward Classes Welfare (BCWD), and minority students under the Directorate of Minorities.
2. Get a caste and income certificate in your own name from the Nadakacheri. SSP asks for its RD number.
3. Create your account on ssp.postmatric.karnataka.gov.in using Aadhaar e-KYC.
4. Get documents e-attested if your department requires it. Upload them on the e-Attestation portal, then take the originals to your college's e-attestation officer.
5. Fill the application. You need the RD number, your SSLC registration number, your college registration number and your hostel details. Professional-course students also need their KEA counselling details.
6. Submit before your department's deadline and make sure your college forwards the application.
7. Track the status on SSP. Payment goes by DBT to your Aadhaar-seeded account. Helpline: 1902. Apply again every academic year.

Documents checklist

• Aadhaar, with your mobile number linked to it. Minors may use a parent's Aadhaar but must add their own at 18.
• A savings account in the student's own name, seeded with Aadhaar and mapped on NPCI. Pragati does not accept joint, minor or no-frills accounts.
• A caste and income certificate with an RD number for SSP.
• An income certificate for the current financial year for the AICTE schemes. PM-USP also needs one.
• Marks cards: Class 12, Class 10 (AICTE uses it to break ties) and your SSLC registration number. For renewals, the previous year's marks card.
• Proof of admission: your KEA allotment or admission order, college registration number, bonafide certificate and fee receipt.
• UDID and a disability certificate for Saksham. For Swanath: death certificates or a Tahsildar/SDM certificate. For COVID-19 cases, the death certificate must name COVID-19 as the cause.

Tip: first check that your name is spelled the same way on Aadhaar, your marks cards, your passbook and your caste certificate. Fixing a mismatch can take longer than the application window.

Why applications get rejected

Worked example: B.E. on a KCET government seat

Three students are on the same course, and all have Class 12 marks in the Karnataka board's top 20 percentile.

Student A should apply on both portals, and for both Pragati and PM-USP. Pragati pays nearly four times as much but has only a few hundred Karnataka seats. If she is selected for both, she keeps Pragati. Before 2026-27, her fee reimbursement alone would have ruled out PM-USP. Student B shows how sharp the income cutoffs are: at ₹3.5 lakh he gets ₹56,000 over four years, and his family has to fund the rest.

Related reading: APAAR ID, ABC ID and DigiLocker: How to Create Them in 2026 · Class 11 to College Admission: A Parent's Month-by-Month Plan

Frequently asked questions

Can I get an NSP scholarship and an SSP scholarship together?

From 2026-27, central rules allow one merit-based scholarship plus welfare-based ones, as long as you meet each scheme's conditions. So an SC student getting post-matric fee reimbursement can also hold Pragati. Karnataka's schemes set their own limits: BCWD's benefit cannot be combined with a centrally sponsored post-matric scholarship. Check before you accept two awards. AICTE's guidelines require a refund if a scholarship is paid in breach of its conditions.

I am from another state and study in Bangalore. What can I apply for?

All the NSP schemes. PM-USP depends on your own board's merit list, and the AICTE schemes depend on your college being AICTE-approved. Karnataka's SSP schemes are only for permanent residents of Karnataka. For caste-based post-matric scholarships, look at your home state's scheme.

Do management-quota and COMEDK students get fee reimbursement?

Not from BCWD, which excludes management quota, private seats in private colleges and COMEDK seats. The SC and ST department pages don't state a quota rule, so confirm with the department before you choose a seat on that basis. The PM-USP and AICTE guidelines set no seat-type condition.

My scholarship is approved but the money hasn't come. What should I check?

Check Aadhaar seeding first. The money goes to whichever account is linked to your Aadhaar on NPCI when the payment is made, which may not be the account you entered on the form. Check BASE and PFMS "Know Your Payment", and make sure your college's AISHE status is active. AICTE accepts complaints about a wrong account only for six months after the merit list.

What if I miss the renewal deadline?

For PM-USP, you lose that year's payment, but you can renew the next year if you still qualify. Under the AICTE schemes, you lose the scholarship if you are not promoted. Swanath's guidelines also say this for students who don't apply in time. On SSP you apply every year, so missing the window means missing that year.

A scholarship rarely covers the whole bill, so work out the gap early. Compare what colleges charge in the Bangalore college fee index and check seat options on the KCET page. Plan the rest with the EMI calculator or education loan options. The Eduvy app lets you compare colleges and year-wise fees, apply to several colleges from one profile, and set up Easy EMI or an education loan for what a scholarship doesn't cover.

Sources

• NSP homepage: 2026-27 portal open from 1 June 2026; PM-USP renewal dates; merit and welfare rule from AY 2026-27; OTR; UDID consent; face authentication alerts (scholarships.gov.in)
• 2026-27 scheme windows for Pragati, Saksham, Swanath and PM-USP renewals (scholarships.gov.in)
• Ministry of Education PM-USP CSSS FAQ 2025-26: eligibility, rates, renewal, top-20-percentile list, Aadhaar seeding, name matching, AISHE, withdrawal (scholarships.gov.in)
• NSP OTR FAQ: documents, Reference number, face authentication apps (scholarships.gov.in)
• 82,000 fresh scholarships a year, split equally between boys and girls (education.gov.in)
• AICTE notification of 19 June 2026: Pragati, Saksham and Swanath applications on NSP until 31 October 2026 (aicte.gov.in)
• AICTE corrigendum of 18 August 2026: Pragati merit-based, Saksham and Swanath welfare-based (aicte.gov.in)
• Pragati degree guidelines: eligibility, ₹50,000, Karnataka allotment, refund clause (aicte.gov.in)
• Pragati FAQ: account type, Aadhaar, number of scholarships (aicte.gov.in)
• Saksham degree guidelines (aicte-india.org)
• Swanath guidelines: categories, 2,000 awards, documents, renewal (aicte.gov.in)
• Karnataka Social Welfare Department: SC post-matric fee reimbursement, 50% waiver band, maintenance rates, prize money (swd.karnataka.gov.in)
• Karnataka Tribal Welfare Department: ST post-matric scholarship (twd.karnataka.gov.in)
• BCWD post-matric scholarship: income, marks, rates, documents, one-benefit rule (bcwd.karnataka.gov.in)
• BCWD fee concession: government quota only, income limits, fees covered (bcwd.karnataka.gov.in)
• Vidyasiri: ₹1,500 a month for 10 months, eligibility (bcwd.karnataka.gov.in)
• BCWD 2026-27 notice of 28 August 2026: last date extended to 30 September 2026 (bcwd.karnataka.gov.in)
• BCWD 2025-26 window extended to 16 May 2026 (bcwd.karnataka.gov.in)
• Directorate of Minorities: 2026-27 fee reimbursement on SSP, last date 30 September 2026 (dom.karnataka.gov.in)
• Directorate of Minorities: e-attestation, Aadhaar-seeding and name-mismatch lists (dom.karnataka.gov.in)
• CBSE notice citing the Cabinet Secretariat memorandum of 12 November 2025 (news.careers360.com)
• SSP application steps and document list, used to cross-check the department pages (school.careers360.com)