The Central Sector Scholarship scheme for undergraduate and post graduate students is a centrally funded, merit-based scholarship initiated by the Department of Higher Education, MHRD. Launched with an aim to financially support students from economically disadvantaged families, the Central Sector Scholarship Scheme is distributed among a total of 82,000 undergraduate/postgraduate students every year. This scholarship is awarded equally to boys and girls, i.e. Outside the total scholarship, 41,000 are reserved for boys and 41,000 candidates for girls. Selected students receive an annual scholarship amount of up to Rs 20,000 so that they can meet their day-to-day expenses while pursuing higher studies.
The detailed description of the Central Sector Scholarship Program is available below. Complete information about the scholarship purpose, key dates, eligibility conditions, awards and application process is highlighted in this article.
CSSS Objective
For meritorious students, the Central Sector Scholarship Scheme for College and University Students aims to provide monetary assistance to students who come from low-income families. The fund provided under this scholarship helps the candidate to meet his/her daily expenses while pursuing his/her undergraduate or postgraduate studies in general or professional courses.
CSSS Award
The Central government Scholarships offer a total of 82,000 scholarships per year, of which 50% scholarships are for female candidates and the remaining 50% for male applicants. All these scholarships are distributed to the State Education Boards on the basis of the population in the age group of 18-25 years in the respective State by segregating the share of CBSE and ICSE. In addition, scholarships attributed to state education commissions are divided into a relationship between 3: 2: 1 scientific scholarship, trade and the arts, respectively. The selected students get the amount of the scholarship directly in your account via DBT (Direct Benefits Transfer) mode transfer. Below are details of the awards given under the Central Sector Scholarship scheme:
S. No | Qualification | Amount |
1 | Graduate | An annual scholarship amount of INR 10,000 for 1st three years of graduation.In case of 5-year integrated course (professional studies), INR 20,000 per year is given to students during 4th and 5th year of study.If the students are pursuing technical courses such as B.Tech/BE, the scholarship is given up to graduation level. |
2 | Post Graduate | An amount of INR 20,000 is provided to students studying at post graduation level. |
CSSS key date
This merit-cum-means scholarship is usually 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 amendments to the discretion of the scholarship supplier. The last date to apply for the scholarship for the academic session 2021-22 was 30 November 2021.
CSSS Eligibility
Central Sector Scholarship Scheme is for the meritorious students who belong to financially weak families. While applying for this Merit-cum-Means Scholarship, applicants must ensure that they are above the 80th percentile of the successful students in the respective stream in the class 12 board examination. Below are more details on the eligibility criteria required to apply for the scholarship.
- Applicants must be in the top 20th percentile merit list of class 12 result of the recognized board such as state board/SEB/CBSE/ICSE etc
- Candidates should be pursuing regular course of graduation / post graduation / professional studies from colleges / universities recognized by education authorities such as AICTE, UGC, MCI, DCI or other regulatory bodies.
- The reserved categories candidates such as SC, ST, OBC and PWD will get the scholarship as per reservation of 15%, 7.5%, 27% and 5% respectively.
- The candidates family annual income of the candidates should not exceed INR 8 Lakh.
- Applicants should not avail any other scholarship benefits for education.
- In addition, students looking for diploma courses are not eligible for this desired scholarship.
- If you want to know about more centrally funded scholarships, read ‘UGC Scholarship – All You Need to Know’.
CSSS Application Process
To make the application process easy and accessible for the applicants, MHRD allows students to fill the scholarship application form online through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP), a government scholarship portal. Follow the steps given below to fill the Application Form of Central Sector Scholarship scheme.
- Applicants applying for the first time on National Scholarship Program also known as NSP need to register with NSP website as a new user.
- Fill all the required information of the applicant details and click on ‘Register’ to get registered. A student application ID and password will be generated on the registered mobile number that applicant will mention in the form.
- Applicants have to login to the NSP portal with using the newly created ID and Password. An OTP is sent to the registered mobile number for login and applicant can change his/her password.
- Once the password will be changed, candidates will direct to the applicant’s dashboard page, where applicants need to click on ‘Application Form’ to start the application process for scholarship from Central Sector Scholarship scheme.
- Applicants need to provide all the required details’ column given in the form like registration details, academic details, basic details, parent financial details, contact details and scheme details.
- All necessary documents have to attach, the form that will be support of identity and educational qualification must be uploaded by the applicants.
- After that, the filled application form should be saved by the applicant as a draft so that the applicant can check carefully every detail once again to ensure that they are correct.
- Then, finally, the candidate has to click on the ‘Submit’ button given below to submit the complete scholarship application form.
These online scholarships submitted by the candidates will 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 has passed his/her class 12 examination.
CSSS Key Documents required
There are some essential documents that applicants must keep with them at the time of the application process. Given below is the list of documents required for Central Sector Scholarship Scheme for College and University Students.
- Pass book issued by bank in the name of the applicant for filling the bank details
- Aadhar Card Number (If Aadhar is not yet assigned, options like Aadhar Enrollment ID Slip, Voter ID, Driving License, PAN, Passport etc. can be used)
- Income certificate issued by competent authority
- Produce Caste certificate, if applicable
- Certificate of Disability, if applicable
- Mark Sheet of Class 12
CSSS Renewal Policy
Beneficiaries of this merit-cum-means scholarship are eligible to receive the scholarship for a maximum period of 5 years, which includes both undergraduate and postgraduate periods. Candidates should be pursuing Graduation and Post Graduation in the same stream. Also, in order to renew the scholarship candidates have to fulfill the prescribed eligibility criteria.
- Students must have secured at least 50% or more marks in the previous examination.
- The attendance of the students should be at least 75%.
- Candidates should not indulge in any ragging activities.
- Candidates can apply for renewal of this merit-cum-means scholarship at NSP.
List of CSSS Scholarship
Central Sector Scholarship Scheme provided by some central government ministry details check below;
- Ministry of Minority Affairs
- Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
- Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
- Ministry of Labour & Employment
- Ministry of Tribal Affairs
- Department of Higher Education
- WARB Ministry of Home Affairs
- RPF/RPSP, Ministry of Railways
CSSS FAQs
How can a student get Central Sector Scholarship Scheme?
The Central Sector Scholarship Scheme, run by Ministry of Education, Government of India, is to support the study of meritorious students coming from disadvantaged families. Students fulfilling all the eligibility conditions can apply for the scholarship through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP). Once the application is verified, the selected students receive the scholarship amount directly into their respective bank accounts through DBT.
Who is eligible for CSSS?
Students, who are in the top 20 percentile of the successful students in the respective stream in class 12 board exams, can avail benefits under this scholarship. They should be pursuing regular undergraduate/postgraduate/professional course from a recognized institute in India. Also, the annual family income from all sources should be less than Rs.8 lakh per annum.
The documents required to getting CSSS Scholarship?
Students applying for Central Sector Scholarship need to have some documents in support of their application like bank passbook in the name of the applicant, Aadhar card number, income certificate, caste certificate (if applicable), disability certificate (if applicable) needs to be provided class 12 mark sheet.
What is the minimum income requirement for Central Sector Scholarship?
There is no minimum income requirement for the scholarship. However, the annual income of the applicant’s family should not exceed Rs.8 lakh annually from all sources.
What is the minimum % of marks required for next year renewal of CSSS scholarship?
To ensure the renewal of the CSSS scholarship, students must have secured at least 50% or more than marks in the previous examination. Also, they have to maintain at least 75% attendance.
Is CSSS scholarship available for general category students?
Yes, CSSS is for all categories of students, including general category. However, reservations are available for various reserved categories as per the norms set by the Government of India. CSSS also provide the scholarship according to the reservation such as for Scheduled Caste (SC) students 15%, for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates 7.5%, for Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates 27%, and for physically handicapped. Disabled/Persons with Disabilities (PWD) 5%.
CSSS Contact Details
In case of any query regarding the Central Sector Scholarship scheme, the applicants can contact directaly:
Address:
National Scholarship Division,
Ministry of Education,
Department of Higher Education,
West Block 1, 2nd Floor, Wing 6, Room No. 6,
R.K. Puram, Sector 1, New Delhi 110066.
Telephone No: 011-26172917, 26172491, 26165238
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