National Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies 2026‑27

The National Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies, called NSPGS for short, is a UGC scholarship for Indian students starting a postgraduate degree in India. It is open to Indian students for two years of study leading to a postgraduate degree. The University Grants Commission (UGC) runs it, and you apply online on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) at scholarships.gov.in.

The scheme folded four older UGC postgraduate scholarships into one, and one of them was the PG Indira Gandhi single girl child scholarship. NSPGS is an umbrella scheme that merges four different scholarship schemes for postgraduate studies.

What you get

Each selected student receives Rs. 15,000 a month, paid for 10 months in a year, for two years. The UGC page puts the yearly financial assistance at Rs. 1,50,000 and the tenure at 2 years. Across both years the total comes to Rs. 3,00,000, but the second year depends on renewal.

The money goes into your bank account through direct benefit transfer. UGC disburses the scholarship by DBT to the student’s bank account, and the process runs through PFMS.

You may receive only one scholarship at a time. If you already get another scholarship, you must declare it, and if you are selected here, you must give up the other one or cancel this selection.

Who can apply

• Only Indian students qualify.
• First-year entrants to a regular, full-time PG course qualify, if the college or university is eligible. Students admitted to the first year of a PG degree in regular or full-time mode at an eligible university, college or institution can apply.
• The age ceiling is 30. Applicants must be below 30 years of age on the date of admission to the first semester or year of the PG programme.
• Your bachelor’s degree must come from a UGC Act-recognised institution. The scholarship is open to students holding a recognised undergraduate degree from an institution recognised under the UGC Act.
• This must be your first PG degree. Anyone who already holds a PG degree is shut out. The scholarship covers only the first PG degree, and students who already have any postgraduate degree cannot apply.
• If your course is integrated, only its PG years are funded. For integrated programmes, the scholarship is given for the PG component only.
• UGC’s 2014 rules on degree titles and length decide whether your course counts. The scholarship covers only recognised PG degree programmes, and the course name and duration must follow the UGC Notification on Specification of Degrees, 2014, as amended.
• Your college must be one of these: a UGC Act 2(f) institution with valid NAAC accreditation, a Section 3 deemed university with valid NAAC accreditation, an institution fully funded by the Central or a state government that can award degrees, or an institution of national importance. Universities, colleges and institutions under Section 2(f) with NAAC accreditation, deemed universities under Section 3 with NAAC accreditation, government-funded degree-awarding institutions, and institutions of national importance are covered.
• Your college needs a valid AISHE code to get onto the portal. The institution must hold a valid AISHE code to access the National Scholarship Portal.
• Open, distance, correspondence, private and part-time PG courses do not qualify. Students pursuing a PG programme through open, distance, correspondence, private or part-time mode are not eligible.

The eligibility rules I read set no family income limit.

How to apply

1. Open scholarships.gov.in, the National Scholarship Portal. Applications are invited once a year on the National e-Scholarship Portal of the Government of India.
2. Choose National Scholarship For Post Graduate Studies from the list. The portal lists it as a merit-based scheme under this name.
3. Fill the online form with care. Incomplete applications are rejected.
4. Keep a KYC-compliant bank account in your own name, and enter its details correctly. If the name, account number or IFSC code does not match, payment may not be generated even after selection.
5. Give your documents to your institution. You submit the necessary documents to your institution so it can verify your online application.
6. Check your result on NSP using the user ID and password created when you applied. Candidates can check their result on the portal with the user ID and password generated at the time of the online application.

Documents you need

You do not upload certificates or affidavits on NSP with your online application. Your institution will ask for papers instead. A caste or category certificate is needed where you apply under a reserved category. The certificate must be issued by the competent authority for the caste or category under which you applied. You also need an Aadhaar-linked bank account. The bank account must be Aadhaar-linked and verified. The official guidelines I read do not publish a full checklist, so ask your institution which papers it needs.

How students are selected

• Selection goes by merit. Selection is strictly by merit, except for the single, twin and fraternal girl child rule.
• Women get 30% of the seats. Thirty per cent of slots are reserved for women, and those slots are first filled by single, twin or fraternal girl children without considering their UG marks.
• Half of the places go to Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Law and Management. The other half go to Science, Engineering and Technology, medical, technical, agriculture and forestry programmes. Half of the slots under each category are for one group of fields and half for the other.
• When marks tie, UG marks decide first, then Class 12 marks. Ties at the bottom of the merit list are sorted by UG marks, and if needed by Class 12 marks.
• An application counts only after verification. Only verified online applications are considered for the scholarship.
• Results usually come out on NSP in November or December. The result is normally declared in November or December of the same year.

Renewal

• The scholarship continues into year two after you complete year one. The scholarship is renewed for the next year of study once the first year is completed successfully.
• You must apply for renewal yourself. Students must apply for renewal on NSP, and the second-year scholarship is not processed without that renewal application.
• You need good conduct and the required attendance. Renewal depends on good conduct and maintaining the prescribed attendance. Students who are not promoted to the next class or level forfeit the scholarship.
• Changing your course or college is not allowed. A change in course of study or institution is not permitted.

Important dates

The NSP listing for this scheme gives these dates for 2026-27:

• Scheme opened on NSP: 16 September 2026.
• Last date for student applications: 30 November 2026. Some reports online give 31 October 2026. I could not confirm that date from an official source, so check the portal before you apply.
• Defective application verification and institute verification: 15 December 2026.
• DNO/SNO/MNO verification: 31 December 2026.

The UGC guidelines I could read are dated 2021, so check scholarships.gov.in for any changes to the rules.