StudyDesk
Who can apply
- You belong to the OBC, EBC or DNT category as recognised by the Central Government, with a valid caste/community certificate.
- You have secured admission to a full-time undergraduate programme in a notified top-class institution. The notified set covers Institutions of National Importance (IITs, NITs, IIMs, AIIMS, NLUs and similar), institutions with NAAC A++ or A+ accreditation, and institutions in the top 100 of the NIRF rankings.
- Your total annual family income from all sources does not exceed ₹2,50,000.
- You are not drawing another scholarship for the same course.
Institutes apply the scheme with their own slot discipline. To take one concrete, current example: NIT Karnataka, Surathkal's notice dated 22 July 2026 invites its OBC, EBC and DNT undergraduates — including higher-semester students — to apply for 2026–27, with its 62 slots going to the top eligible students by JEE Main rank. Your institute's scholarship cell will tell you how its slots are ranked; ask early, because the merit order is decided inside the institution, not by the portal.
What the scholarship pays
The package mirrors the long-running Top Class pattern:
- Full tuition fee and non-refundable charges, with a ceiling of ₹2,00,000 per year for private institutions (and up to ₹3.72 lakh per year for approved private flying clubs).
- Living expenses of ₹3,000 per month.
- Books and stationery allowance of ₹5,000 per year.
- One-time assistance of ₹45,000 for a computer or laptop with accessories.
Everything is paid by Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the student's Aadhaar-linked bank account. The award runs for the duration of the course as long as you keep meeting the conditions and renew on NSP each year.
Dates for 2026–27
The 2026–27 round is open on the National Scholarship Portal, with student applications shown until 31 October 2026 — the same closing date the portal applies across the PM YASASVI post-matric family this year. Institutes began calling for applications from July 2026 onwards. Because verification by your institute and the nodal officers happens after you submit, applying in the last week is a gamble: if your institute's scholarship cell has a query, there may be no time left to fix it.
How to apply, step by step
- Complete One Time Registration (OTR) on scholarships.gov.in using Aadhaar, if you have not done so for another NSP scheme.
- Log in, open the fresh application for 2026–27 and select the PM YASASVI Top Class Education in College scheme.
- Fill in your category, income, admission and bank details carefully — the income figure must match your income certificate exactly.
- Upload the documents listed below. Many institutes additionally require an expenditure certificate (a fee-structure statement) issued by the institute itself; at NIT Karnataka, for instance, students collect it from the academic section before applying. Check whether your institute wants the same.
- Submit on NSP, take a printout, and submit the signed hard copy with attachments to your institute's scholarship cell, SC/ST/OBC cell or liaison officer, as your institute directs.
- Track verification on NSP until the application is verified at institute and nodal-officer level.
Documents you will need
- Caste/community certificate (OBC, EBC or DNT)
- Income certificate showing annual family income within ₹2.5 lakh
- Class 12 marksheet
- Aadhaar card
- Admission proof and the institute's expenditure/fee certificate
- Previous year's marksheet (for renewal applicants)
- Bank passbook details for the Aadhaar-seeded account
Where students go wrong
The income ceiling is the first filter and the most common failure — ₹2.5 lakh is much tighter than the ₹8 lakh ceiling on the parallel SC Top Class scheme, so check your certificate before you invest time in the form. The second is assuming every good college counts: the institution must be on the notified top-class list. The third is missing the institute's internal step — the printout, the expenditure certificate, the cell submission — which sits outside the portal but decides whether your application gets verified at all. Apply early, complete both the online and the institute-side steps, and keep your NSP application ID safe for renewal next year.
Sources & verification
Checked against Department of Social Justice & Empowerment / NSP's official source on 6 September 2026. Closed, renewal-only, expected and open statuses are kept separate.
Frequently asked questions
Who can apply for the PM YASASVI Top Class College scholarship?
Students in the OBC, EBC or DNT category with a valid caste/community certificate, who have secured admission to a full-time undergraduate programme in a notified top-class institution, whose total annual family income does not exceed ₹2,50,000, and who are not drawing another scholarship for the same course.
How much does the scholarship pay?
Full tuition fee and non-refundable charges, with a ceiling of ₹2,00,000 per year for private institutions (up to ₹3.72 lakh per year for approved private flying clubs), living expenses of ₹3,000 per month, a books and stationery allowance of ₹5,000 per year, and one-time assistance of ₹45,000 for a computer or laptop with accessories — all paid by DBT to the student's Aadhaar-linked bank account.
What is the last date to apply for 2026–27?
Student applications on the National Scholarship Portal are shown until 31 October 2026, and verification by your institute and the nodal officers happens after you submit.
Which institutions count as top-class for this scheme?
The notified set covers Institutions of National Importance (IITs, NITs, IIMs, AIIMS, NLUs and similar), institutions with NAAC A++ or A+ accreditation, and institutions in the top 100 of the NIRF rankings.
Is there an entrance test for the PM YASASVI college scholarship?
No. The YASASVI Entrance Test (YET) has been discontinued and selection for the current cycle is merit-based; the college component turns on where you have taken admission and whether you meet the income and category conditions.
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