Scholarship season on the National Scholarship Portal: NMMSS closes 30 September, everything else 31 October
The Ministry of Education has extended the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship deadline for 2026-27 to 30 September. On the portal itself, student applications close 31 October, institute verification 15 November and second-level verification 30 November — and nothing moves without an OTR number.
Two deadlines sit on the National Scholarship Portal right now, and students routinely miss the second because they only heard about the first.
The dates
- 30 September 2026 — extended last date for the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) for 2026-27, for the meritorious students selected under it.
- 31 October 2026 — last date for students to submit applications on the portal for 2026-27.
- 15 November 2026 — last date for the institute to verify what its students filed.
- 30 November 2026 — last date for second-level (L2) verification by the state or ministry.
The two dates that are not yours to control
An application that a college never verifies is an application that fails silently. The 15 November institute deadline and the 30 November L2 deadline are the two commonest reasons a submitted scholarship produces nothing, and neither of them sends the student a warning. File early, then go back into the portal in the first week of November and check your status — if it still reads pending at the institute level, walk into the office and ask.
What you need before you start
A One-Time Registration (OTR) number is now mandatory. It is a 14-digit identifier generated through Aadhaar or EID verification, and it follows you for your whole academic life, so you register once and stop re-enrolling each year. Get the OTR first; the application form is unusable without it.
How many you can apply for
From 2026-27, a student may hold one merit-based scheme and one or more welfare-based schemes, subject to each scheme's own eligibility. Renewals for the PM-USP merit schemes — the Central Sector Scheme for college and university students, and the special scheme for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh — are open on the portal alongside fresh applications.
CareerBox News Desk — reporting on the Ministry of Education’s scholarship schedule for 2026-27 on the National Scholarship Portal. Official portal: scholarships.gov.in. Dates and eligibility change; confirm them on the official portal before you act.