National Overseas Scholarship: Eligibility, Benefits, Deadline

The National Overseas Scholarship Scheme by the Indian government aims to financially support economically weak students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, Landless Agricultural Laborers and Traditional Artisans category to study in top universities abroad. It provides funding for up to 3 years for graduates and 4 years for doctoral study. Around 125 scholarships are awarded yearly, of which 115 are for SC candidates.

Benefits 

The National Overseas Scholarship sponsors a major chunk of the total expenses a student encounters. Listed below are the major areas of funding under the scholarship:

1. Tuition fees
2. Visa fees
3. Maintenance allowance
4. Contingency allowance
5. Medical Insurance Premium
6. Incidental journey allowance & equipment allowance
7. Flight tickets

Eligibility criteria

To apply for the National Overseas Scholarship, the applicants must fulfill the eligibility criteria listed below:

1. Belong to any of the prescribed castes. If no or lesser applicants from the target categories, students from other castes will be considered under merit. 
2. Get admission to a foreign university that is one of the top 500 universities in the world as per the QS ranking 2023. 
3. Topics or courses concerning Indian culture, heritage, history, or social studies on India based research topics shall not be covered under NOS.
4. Shall not have any other source of funding. 
5. Minimum 60% in the last qualifying exam. 
6. Age must be less than 35 years. 
7. Family income should be less than 8 Lakhs per annum. 
8. Employed candidates must provide a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their employer.
9. Students with a J-1 visa are only eligible for the US.
10. Selected students have to sign a bond for the expenses to be covered under the scholarship. 
11. Students must not change their institution of study unless their guide leaves and there are no guides in the same institution

Application process

The application process is entirely online and involves the two steps mentioned below:

1. Go to the official website and fill out the Student Register Form. 
2. Upload the required documents.

Documents required 

1. Academic certificates
2. Caste certificate
3. Unconditional offer letter from the university abroad
4. Family Income Certificate
5. Aadhar card
6. Photo 
7. Scanned signature 

Selection process

1. Eligible applications are sent to the selection-cum-screening committee.
2. Based on the university’s rank, a list of selected candidates will be published on the website. Selected students will also get an email confirming their selection for the first round. 
3. The family income for the last financial year is considered in the first level of selection. For the second, the family income of the last 2 - 3 years is considered. 
4. Candidates will get a provisional scholarship letter that they must confirm and send back. 
5. Beneficiaries will go through processes like verifying original documents, submission of Bonds, solvency certificates, etc. 
6. The selection period is from March - April every year.

Contact details

Shri Sanjay Singh
Under Secretary
Shastri Bhawan Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi-110001
Phone: 011 23384023 (All working days 3 PM to 5 PM)
Email: [email protected]

For Technical queries Only

Phone: 011 23073443 (from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM)
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: All information published on this page has been taken from the website owned by the Government of India for the National Overseas Scholarship. Please visit the official website to address your concerns and factual check.

Frequently asked questions