Scholarship for UG Students in Kerala: Eligibility, Amounts, Documents and How to Apply (With 2026 Update)

A scholarship for UG students in Kerala is a financial award that supports undergraduate degree students through fee reimbursement, annual grants, or monthly stipends. The Government of Kerala, the Government of India, minority and community bodies, the University of Kerala, and private donors fund these awards.

Item	Detail
Level	Undergraduate (UG) degree
Funders	Government of Kerala, Government of India, Directorate of Minority Welfare, University of Kerala, private donors such as South Indian Bank
Typical award	INR 125 to INR 15,000 per year (about 1 to 158 USD), plus monthly stipends under some schemes
Application routes	e-Grantz 3.0, KSHEC portal, DCE portal, National Scholarship Portal (NSP)
Payment method	Direct Benefit Transfer to the student’s bank account
Status of the 2020-21 cycle	Closed, but its rules explain how current cycles work

USD figures in this article use about 95 INR per 1 USD (October 2026). Amounts come from college-published scheme lists, so confirm each one on the official portal before applying.

What Is a Scholarship for UG Students in Kerala?

A Kerala UG scholarship is a government, institutional, or private award that reduces the cost of a degree for eligible students. The awards fall into six groups.

Group	Examples
State merit	State Merit, Suvarna Jubilee Merit, Higher Education (KSHEC)
Category-based	e-Grantz for SC, ST, OEC, and OBC students; Vidya Samunnathi
Minority	Post Matric (Minority), CH Muhammed Koya, Prof. Joseph Mundassery
Subject and disability	Hindi, Sanskrit, Blind/PH
Central	Central Sector Scholarship, INSPIRE
University and private	Kerala University Merit, SIB Scholar

How does the Kerala scholarship system work?

Students apply online, then submit a printout and documents to the college. The college nodal officer verifies the file. The sanctioning authority then approves the award. DBT moves the money into the student’s bank account.

List of Scholarships for UG Students in Kerala (2020-21)

Kerala offered at least 15 UG scholarship schemes across state, central, minority, and private funders. The table compares the main ones.

Scheme	Funder	Who qualifies	Amount
State Merit Scholarship	Government of Kerala	First-year UG with 50% or more in the qualifying exam	INR 1,250 per year (about 13 USD)
Suvarna Jubilee Merit Scholarship	Directorate of Collegiate Education	BPL students with above 50% in the qualifying exam	INR 10,000 (about 105 USD)
Hindi Scholarship	Government of Kerala	First-year UG students taking Hindi as a sub subject	INR 500 per month (about 5 USD)
Sanskrit Scholarship	Government of Kerala	First-year UG students studying Sanskrit as main or sub subject	INR 200 per month (about 2 USD)
Muslim Nadar Girls Scholarship	Government of Kerala	First-year UG girls from BPL families and backward communities	INR 125 per year (about 1 USD)
Blind/PH Scholarship	Directorate of Collegiate Education	Blind, deaf, and physically handicapped UG students	About INR 4,000 (about 42 USD)
CH Muhammed Koya Scholarship	Government of Kerala	UG girls from Muslim, Latin, and Converted Christian communities	INR 5,000 per year (about 53 USD)
Prof. Joseph Mundassery Scholarship	Directorate of Minority Welfare	Meritorious minority students scoring 80% or more	INR 15,000 (about 158 USD)
Post Matric Scholarship (Minority)	Government of India (NSP)	Minority students with above 50% and income up to INR 2 lakh (about 2,105 USD)	Check NSP notice
Central Sector Scholarship	Government of India (NSP)	Students above the 80th percentile in Class 12	INR 10,000 per year (about 105 USD)
e-Grantz	Government of Kerala	SC, ST, OEC, and OBC students	Tuition reimbursement plus stipend of INR 500 to 1,500 per month (about 5 to 16 USD)
Vidya Samunnathi	Government of Kerala	Non-reserved, economically backward students with above 70% and income up to INR 4 lakh (about 4,211 USD)	Check official notice
KSBCDC Scholarship	Kerala State Backward Classes Development Corporation	Economically backward UG students	INR 5,000 per year (about 53 USD)
Kerala University Merit Scholarship	University of Kerala	UG students with 60% or more in the qualifying exam	INR 2,500 per year (about 26 USD)
SIB Scholar (2019-20 edition)	South Indian Bank (CSR)	Financially weaker Kerala-board Plus Two students with 85% or more	INR 4,000 monthly allowance (about 42 USD)

State schemes from the Directorate of Collegiate Education

The Directorate of Collegiate Education (DCE) administers the State Merit, Suvarna Jubilee, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Blind/PH scholarships. Most of these target first-year students. Merit schemes link eligibility to marks in the qualifying examination. Subject schemes link eligibility to the chosen subject.

KSHEC Higher Education Scholarship

The Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) offers a scholarship for first-year UG students in aided courses. The scheme covers Science, Humanities, Social Science, and Business Studies. For 2025-26, first-year applicants had to apply online by 28 February 2026. Students also had to submit a hard copy by 10 March 2026. Second- and third-year students renewed through a separate window, with the online deadline on 16 May 2026. Applications run on the KSHEC scholarship portal.

e-Grantz for SC, ST, OEC, and OBC students

e-Grantz is the Kerala web system that processes post-matric educational grants for SC, ST, OEC, OBC, and socially backward students. It covers tuition, special fees, and exam fees, subject to income limits. SC, ST, and OEC students face no income limit. OBC students face an income limit stated as INR 1 lakh per year (about 1,053 USD) in most sources. Students apply on the e-Grantz 3.0 portal. Read the full process in our e-Grantz scholarship guide.

Minority scholarships

Minority scholarships support students from notified minority communities. The Post Matric Scholarship for minorities runs through NSP. The CH Muhammed Koya Scholarship supports girls from Muslim, Latin, and Converted Christian communities. The Prof. Joseph Mundassery Scholarship rewards high scorers among minority students. See our minority scholarships in Kerala guide for category details.

Central Sector Scholarship

The Central Sector Scholarship Scheme supports meritorious UG students from lower-income families. Selection depends on Class 12 performance above the 80th percentile. The award is INR 10,000 per year for the first three UG years. The National Scholarship Portal handles the application. Students apply at the National Scholarship Portal.

Social security and community schemes

Snehapoorvam, KSBCDC, and Vidya Samunnathi serve economically weaker students. The Kerala Social Security Mission runs Snehapoorvam, which colleges list at INR 10,000 per year for three UG years (about 105 USD). KSBCDC pays INR 5,000 per year for three UG years. Vidya Samunnathi targets non-reserved students with above 70% marks.

University and private scholarships

University and private scholarships add smaller or niche options. The University of Kerala invited Merit Scholarship applications for the 2020-21 batch on 13 October 2021. The deadline was 30 November 2021, and autonomous colleges were excluded. The South Indian Bank’s SIB Scholar program required 85% in Kerala Higher Secondary for its fourth edition. That edition excluded Aided, CBSE, and ICSE school graduates.

Who Should Apply and Who Should Not Apply

Students should apply when their marks, category, income, and course match a scheme’s conditions. Match your profile first. Then apply.

Student profile	Best-fit schemes	Key condition
SC, ST, or OEC student	e-Grantz	No income limit
OBC student	e-Grantz	Income limit applies
High Plus Two scorer, any category	Central Sector, State Merit, Kerala University Merit	80th percentile, 50%, and 60% marks respectively
Minority student above 80%	Prof. Joseph Mundassery	Minority community and marks
Minority girl	CH Muhammed Koya	Muslim, Latin, or Converted Christian
Student of Hindi or Sanskrit	Hindi or Sanskrit scholarship	Subject taken in first year
Blind, deaf, or PH student	Blind/PH Scholarship	Disability documentation
Non-reserved economically backward student	Vidya Samunnathi	Above 70% and income limit

Who should not apply

Some students should skip a scheme because they will fail its core condition.

• Students who are not Kerala residents or natives for state schemes.
• Students whose marks fall below the scheme cut-off.
• Students whose family income exceeds the limit.
• Students who already receive another scholarship that bars overlapping awards, as the Central Sector Scheme does.
• Students in institution types the scheme excludes, such as unaided courses for KSHEC.
• Students applying outside the eligible year of study, such as a second-year student applying to a first-year-only scheme.

Step-by-Step Application Guide

Students apply by choosing a scheme, registering on its portal, uploading documents, and submitting a hard copy to the college. The steps below cover all three routes.

1. Choose the scheme. Match your marks, category, income, and course to the tables above.
2. Collect documents. Prepare the Aadhaar card, income certificate, caste or minority certificate, marklists, and bank passbook.
3. Register on the right portal. Use e-Grantz for SC/ST/OEC/OBC, the KSHEC or DCE portal for state merit schemes, and NSP for central schemes.
4. Fill in the application. Enter personal, course, bank, and income details exactly as the documents show them.
5. Upload documents. e-Grantz guidance sets a limit of 100 KB per PDF.
6. Submit online. Save the application ID.
7. Print the application. Colleges require the printout as part of the file.
8. Submit the hard copy. Hand the printout and documents to the scholarship counter before the college deadline.
9. Wait for verification. The college nodal officer verifies your file. On NSP, institute and defect verification follow the student deadline.
10. Track the status. Use your Aadhaar number or application ID on the portal.
11. Receive DBT. The money reaches your Aadhaar-seeded bank account.
12. Renew each year. Renewal needs a fresh online application and hard copy in the renewal window.

Required Documents Explained

Most Kerala scholarships require identity proof, income proof, academic proof, and a working bank account.

Document	Issued by	Why it is required	Common rejection cause
Aadhaar card	UIDAI	Verifies identity and links the mobile number	Number not linked to mobile; name mismatch
Income certificate	Village Officer	Proves family income	Expired; not valid for the current financial year
Caste certificate	Revenue authority	Confirms SC, ST, OEC, or OBC status	Non-digital or inconsistent details
SSLC marklist	Education board	Verifies date of birth and eligibility	Date of birth mismatch
Plus Two marklist	Education board	Proves merit eligibility	Marks below the cut-off
Bank passbook	Bank	Receives DBT	Account not in the student’s name or not Aadhaar-seeded
Allotment memo	Admissions authority	Shows merit-quota admission	Missing from the file
Minority certificate	Revenue authority	Proves minority status	Missing for minority schemes
Hostel certificate	College	Supports hosteller benefits	Submitted when not applicable, or missing when applicable
Application printout	Portal	Becomes the hard copy file	Not submitted at the counter

Common Mistakes Applicants Make

Most rejections come from avoidable file errors, not from low eligibility.

• Choosing the wrong scheme. Students apply without checking marks, income, or category rules.
• Using an old income certificate. The certificate must be valid for the current financial year.
• Ignoring Aadhaar seeding. A bank account not mapped in the NPCI mapper shows as “Bank Account Rejected.”
• Skipping the hard copy. Online submission alone leaves the college file incomplete.
• Missing the college deadline. The college deadline falls after the portal deadline in some cycles, so check both dates.
• Entering mismatched details. Names and dates of birth must match the marklist and Aadhaar.
• Overlapping awards. Some schemes bar students who receive another scholarship.
• Waiting for the last day. Portal servers slow down near closing time.

Selection Process Explained

Kerala scholarships use merit, need, and category to select recipients. Each scheme weighs them differently.

• Merit-based selection. Schemes such as State Merit, Kerala University Merit, and Joseph Mundassery rank students by qualifying marks. The Central Sector Scheme uses the Class 12 percentile above 80.
• Need-based selection. Schemes such as Vidya Samunnathi and the minority Post Matric Scholarship apply family income limits.
• Category and quota rules. e-Grantz applies caste category and, per college guidance, merit-admission conditions.
• Institution verification. The college verifies documents before sending the application forward.
• No guarantee. Meeting the criteria does not guarantee selection, because funds and rankings limit the awards.

Previous Years’ Trends (2019 to 2026)

The record shows delayed deadlines in 2020, late university notifications in 2021, and a portal-plus-hard-copy model by 2026.

Period	What the records show
2019-20	South Indian Bank’s SIB Scholar (fourth edition) invited applications with a deadline of 25 September 2019
October 2020	Reported NSP deadline of 15 October 2020 for central schemes
30 November 2020	An institutional notice dated 2 November 2020 lists the Central Sector Scheme among schemes extended to 30 November 2020
December 2020	A state education notice dated 7 December 2020 extended NSP schemes to 31 December 2020
October-November 2021	University of Kerala invited 2020-21 batch Merit Scholarship applications on 13 October 2021, with a deadline of 30 November 2021
2022 onward	Colleges refer to the e-Grantz 3.0 portal
2025-26	KSHEC ran first-year UG applications to 28 February 2026 and renewals to 16 May 2026, each with a separate hard-copy deadline

What the trend suggests. Deadlines moved later in 2020 because of the pandemic. State and university notifications for the 2020-21 batch appeared late. By 2025-26, the process used online forms, hard copies, and separate renewal windows.

Research Notes

These notes record what I verified and where published sources disagree.

• e-Grantz income limit conflict. Most sources state INR 1 lakh for OBC students. One college circular lists INR 6 lakh (about 6,316 USD) for OBC(H). Confirm on the portal.
• Central Sector income limit conflict. One college page lists an income limit of INR 4.5 lakh (about 4,737 USD). An aggregator says there is no income bar. Check the NSP guidelines.
• 2020-21 Central Sector closing date. Notices show extensions to 30 November 2020, while one listing shows a 15 January 2022 closing date for the 2020-21 cycle. The final date needs primary-source confirmation.
• Amount sourcing. Most scheme amounts come from college-published lists, so the portals hold the authoritative figures.
• Missing figures. I found no reliable data on application volumes or award counts, so this article does not report any.
• SIB Scholar. The fourth-edition details come from a 2019 listing, so treat them as archive information.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which scholarships can UG students in Kerala apply for?
UG students in Kerala can apply for state schemes such as the State Merit, Suvarna Jubilee, Hindi, Sanskrit, and KSHEC scholarships, e-Grantz for SC/ST/OEC/OBC students, minority awards such as CH Muhammed Koya, and the central Central Sector Scholarship through NSP. University and private awards add further options.

2. What is the income limit for e-Grantz?
SC, ST, and OEC students face no income limit under e-Grantz. OBC students face an income limit, which published sources state as INR 1 lakh per year (about 1,053 USD), while one college circular lists a higher INR 6 lakh limit for OBC(H). Check the current notice on the e-Grantz portal before applying.

3. Who is eligible for the KSHEC scholarship?
The Kerala State Higher Education Council scholarship targets first-year UG students in aided courses, including Science, Humanities, Social Science, and Business Studies. Renewal covers second- and third-year UG students. Applicants apply online and submit a hard copy at the college scholarship counter. Exact marks and income conditions change yearly, so read the current notification.

4. Can a student receive more than one scholarship?
Rules differ by scheme. The Central Sector Scholarship requires that the student receives no other scholarship, and other schemes may apply similar conditions. Students should read each scheme’s guidelines and ask the college scholarship officer before applying to overlapping awards. Disclosing existing benefits honestly prevents rejection during verification.

5. What documents are required for Kerala UG scholarships?
Most schemes require an Aadhaar card, an income certificate from the Village Officer, the SSLC and Plus Two marklists, and a bank passbook in the student’s name. Category schemes add a caste or minority certificate. Hostel residents add a hostel certificate. Colleges also request the application printout and, for some schemes, an allotment memo.

6. How do I apply for the Central Sector Scholarship from Kerala?
Register on the National Scholarship Portal, select the Central Sector Scholarship scheme, complete the form, upload documents, and finalize the application. The college then verifies the application. Eligibility rests on Class 12 performance above the 80th percentile, and the award is INR 10,000 per year (about 105 USD) for the first three UG years.

7. Do students in self-financing colleges qualify?
Eligibility depends on the scheme. College guidance for e-Grantz lists merit admission as a condition, and the KSHEC scholarship targets aided courses. Self-financing and management-quota students may therefore qualify for fewer schemes. Read each scheme’s institution rules before applying, and ask the college scholarship counter to confirm.

8. Why do scholarship applications get rejected?
Common causes include an expired income certificate, a bank account not seeded with Aadhaar, mismatched names or dates of birth, missing documents, and a missed hard-copy deadline. Students also lose eligibility by failing marks or income conditions. Early verification of every document at the college scholarship counter reduces avoidable rejections.

9. How do I check my e-Grantz application status?
Open the e-Grantz portal, choose the track-application option, and enter the 12-digit Aadhaar number or the application ID. If the status shows a rejected bank account, visit the bank branch, confirm that Aadhaar is seeded in the NPCI mapper, and then update the details on the portal.

10. Is the hard copy submission compulsory after applying online?
Yes, for most Kerala schemes. After submitting online, students print the application and submit it with the required documents at the college scholarship counter. KSHEC notices for 2025-26 set separate dates for the online form and the hard copy, and colleges process the hard copy during verification.

11. Are 2020-21 scholarships still open?
No. The 2020-21 application windows are closed. Notices extended central deadlines through late 2020, and the University of Kerala merit round for that batch closed on 30 November 2021. Current students should follow the latest notifications on official portals, such as the 2025-26 KSHEC cycle, and watch for the 2026-27 announcements.

12. How do I renew a scholarship in the second and third year?
Renewal applies to second- and third-year UG students under schemes such as KSHEC. The 2025-26 renewal window required an online application by 16 May 2026 and a hard copy by 23 May 2026. Students reapply on the portal and submit updated documents at the college counter.

Conclusion

Scholarships for UG students in Kerala combine state merit awards, e-Grantz grants, minority schemes, central funding, and university or private awards. The 2020-21 cycle is closed, but its structure still guides current applications: match the scheme, prepare clean documents, apply online, and submit the hard copy on time. For the next step, read our guide to scholarships for PG students in Kerala.