Get Going........ Review on Availing Scholarships / Grants in India

As we move from school to college, one of the most common problems that an Indian middle class family may face is not about which a college or course to choose from, rather it is to worry that from where the education cost will be funded……?

As you climb higher levels of education, it becomes more and more costly, and then it is not only important to think about the course and the college but it is equally important to know whether you can afford the fees of that college. If the fees are beyond your capacity then your decision of the college and the course is totally fruitless. With the increasing levels of competition it has become totally necessary for all of us to outshine others so that we are in the preferred choice list of all. Now the question comes how many of us can do that? Working under extreme levels of stress and the fear of losing out in the number game often makes us lose our self confidence. And to top it all the soaring high cut offs of the universities, where we fail to make it to the list because you were 1% short, makes our dream to study in a good university faintly distant.

The only other option left for many of us is studying in a private college in India or abroad. These colleges or universities may not be recognized all over but may offer a course that we aspire to do and may help us to achieve our dream.

And once you have taken that decision to study in a private college, you land up with the problem of funds, because no private college or university has fees less than 1lakh, which for an average Indian family is a huge amount. The fee structure for a 3-4 year programs is so high that you might end up double checking the figures to see no additional zeroes have been added wrongly. The option of studying abroad in foreign universities, having a fee structure of not less than 8 to 10lakhs seems like studying for 1 hour before the exam that expecting to top the paper.

The only option left for academic oriented students is either to take a loan or to try for a scholarship.

The clause with taking any study loan is that you start repaying it once you get a job. Now the problem is if you don’t get a job, then how can you repay the loan?

So the only alternative left is trying for scholarships. Many of us are so pessimist that we don’t even try to apply for any scholarship as we feel it is all a waste and biased. I do agree it is difficult and disheartening when you fail to get any results , but trust me no attempt is futile and the harder and longer you try, the more nearer you are towards your goal.

Many of us in India are not even aware of the various scholarships that are available to us. I had faced the same problem, so after doing a little bit research I came up with a list of companies and institutes that offer scholarships to students at graduation and

Post - graduation level.

1.Project Saraswati Scholarships – This scholarship is sponsored by Fair and Lovely, a brand of Hindustan Lever Limited. Earlier is scholarship was meant only at post graduate level but now after 3 years of its inception, the Project Saraswati scholarships have been extended to graduate studies in order to benefit a larger number of deserving women. These scholarships for graduate and postgraduate studies are granted to deserving young women who have the aptitude, drive and ambition to achieve their goals, but are financially constrained. Project Saraswati is one such project undertaken by the Fair & Lovely Foundation for the economic empowerment of India’s young women. More information can be obtained from the site https://hll.com and https://fairandlovelyfoundation.com.

2.Sri Ratan Tata Scholarship for studying in India – It is scholarship that is funded by the JRD Tata Fund. It is awarded to meritious students pursuing graduate and post graduate courses in India. A written letter needs to be sent for applying for this scholarship. Former President K.R Narayan was one of the awardees who received scholarship for his studies from the JRD Tata Fund. The scholarship programmes normally commence from October. For more information look at https://tata.com.

3.The Indian Oil Corporation Scholarship Scheme – It is a scholarship that is offered to economically weaker sections of the society to pursue professional degrees in medicine, management, engineering etc. They might even take you in as their employees after completion of your course. For more information see https://iocl.com/perf_social.asp#c

4.Ritand Balved Education Fund (RBEF) - It is an orgainsation that funds Amity University, started by Ashok Chauhan. It is offered to students who are studying in Amity as well as students who want to study in some other college or university. A 90% score in 12th Broads help you to earn 100% scholarship and 85%-90% help you to get 50% scholarship. Know more about this from https://amity.edu.

5.Aditya Birla Group Scholarship (ABS) - The Aditya Birla Group Scholarship scheme, instituted in 1999, is our way of pursuing his ideals and spawning leaders with a passion to excel. They foster outstanding academic excellence and humane leadership values, in partnership with select institutions such as the IITs, BITS (Pilani), and the IIMs. The ABS programme is not just about academic excellence; aspiring scholars are evaluated on holistic parameters that take on board their extra-curricular activities, leadership qualities, values, vision…their dreams. The Aditya Birla Group Scholarship covers the academic fees as well as the hostel fees for the duration of the course, commencing with the academic session of the first year. Visit https://adityabirlascholars.com for more information.

6.Bharat Petroleum Scholarships for Higher Studies - The Bharat Petroleum Scholarships for Higher Studies was initiated in 2003-04. It has been designed with a view to help Indian students who have demonstrated all round brilliance and have a passion to achieve excellence in their chosen field and have obtained admission for Post Graduate programmes in India OR abroad. Till date they have selected 4 batches of scholars pursuing their higher studies abroad and 2 batches of scholars pursuing higher studies in India. Know more about it from the site https://bharatpetroleum.com/scholarship_2005/scholarship.asp?from=ami.

7.Other than is most of the private institutes offer scholarships for pursuing courses in their institutes itself.

This just a small list of reputed scholarship offering organizations, there are innumerable companies which are offering and are planning to offer scholarships to students. You can even go to a particular company site and search for scholarships. But do read the terms and conditions carefully before applying as many companies may want you to join them as employees afterwards and many institutes may be offering scholarships only to the students studying at their institutes. It is important decision so make it keeping all the alternatives in mind.

And the basic perception, that you need to be poor or from a backward class or a genius to get a scholarship is totally wrong. Any scholarship that you apply for will clearly mention for whom it is applicable to.

I know it is very small list but one that is reliable enough. I hope it might prove helpful to many of you. Best of luck and never stop trying.

“ Never be discouraged, it is often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock”