National Fellowship for ST Students Statistics 2026: Scholars by Year and State
· 1 min read · 3 official sources
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs awarded 3,750 National Fellowships for Scheduled Tribe students in the five years to 2025-26, with 750 fresh awards each year. Official replies show 2,698 ST scholars were covered in 2024-25, with Mizoram, Nagaland and Karnataka having the most. Year-wise and state-wise figures are below.
National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students (NFST): key numbers
Infographic
ST scholars covered under NFST each year
Number of Scheduled Tribe scholars covered under the National Fellowship Scheme in each year, from the Scholarship and Fellowship Management Portal.
| Year | ST scholars |
|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 2,938 |
| 2023-24 | 2,975 |
| 2024-25 | 2,698 |
Source: pib.gov.in, as on 31 March 2025
NFST scholars completing their research
Number of fellowship holders who completed their course or research in each financial year.
| Year | Scholars completing research |
|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 294 |
| 2024-25 | 156 |
| 2025-26 | 226 |
Source: pib.gov.in, as on 31 March 2026
Top 12 states by NFST scholars (2024-25)
ST scholars covered under NFST in the 12 states with the most scholars in 2024-25, with the two earlier years for comparison.
| State | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mizoram | 292 | 288 | 340 |
| Nagaland | 186 | 216 | 222 |
| Karnataka | 296 | 289 | 203 |
| Assam | 180 | 189 | 195 |
| Odisha | 141 | 142 | 191 |
| Telangana | 353 | 313 | 173 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 129 | 133 | 142 |
| Manipur | 138 | 147 | 139 |
| Meghalaya | 122 | 142 | 138 |
| Chhattisgarh | 101 | 109 | 113 |
| Gujarat | 145 | 146 | 113 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 119 | 119 | 103 |
Source: pib.gov.in, as on 31 March 2025
How an ST scholar gets the fellowship
What the numbers show
The National Fellowship Scheme for Scheduled Tribe students pays a monthly fellowship to ST scholars doing an MPhil or PhD. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs gives 750 fresh fellowships every year, and told the Lok Sabha in August 2026 that 3,750 fellowships had been awarded in the last five years. In 2024-25, 2,698 ST scholars were covered by the scheme.
The trend over the years
The number of scholars covered stayed close to 3,000 in 2022-23 (2,938) and 2023-24 (2,975), then fell to 2,698 in 2024-25. Because each fellowship lasts up to five years, these counts mix new and continuing scholars. Completions vary from year to year: 294 scholars finished their research in 2023-24, 156 in 2024-25 and 226 in 2025-26.
State differences
The north east has a large share of scholars. Mizoram had 340 in 2024-25, up from 292 in 2022-23, and Nagaland had 222. Karnataka (203), Assam (195) and Odisha (191) follow. Telangana had the most scholars in 2022-23 with 353, but its count fell to 173 by 2024-25. States with large tribal populations such as Madhya Pradesh (36) and Jharkhand (67) had far fewer scholars.
What the figures do not tell you
The state tables come from the Scholarship and Fellowship Management Portal and cover the fellowship only. They do not include the top class scholarship component for ST students in premier institutes. They also do not show how much money was paid in each state, since the ministry does not allocate the budget state-wise for this central sector scheme.
Where to check the numbers
The ministry publishes the merit list each year on tribal.nic.in and answers questions on the scheme in Parliament, which PIB then releases with state-wise and year-wise tables.
Frequently asked questions
How many NFST fellowships are given each year?
750 fresh fellowships are given every year, each for up to five years. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs said 3,750 fellowships were awarded in the last five years, in a Lok Sabha reply of 13 August 2026.
How many ST scholars got the fellowship in 2024-25?
2,698 ST scholars were covered in 2024-25, against 2,975 in 2023-24 and 2,938 in 2022-23. The count includes continuing scholars as well as new awardees.
How many NFST scholars complete their PhD?
226 scholars completed their course or research in 2025-26, 156 in 2024-25 and 294 in 2023-24, according to the ministry.
Which state has the most NFST scholars?
Mizoram had the most in 2024-25 with 340 scholars, followed by Nagaland (222), Karnataka (203) and Assam (195).
When does the NFST portal open?
The online portal generally opens on 1 July and closes on 30 September of the academic year, after which applications are verified and a merit list is published.
Eligibility, documents and how to apply: National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students (NFST) full guide
Charts, data files and the infographic are free to download, share and embed with a link back to this page.
Sources
This guide was checked against these official pages:
- pib.gov.in (www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2298825)
- pib.gov.in (www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2237627)
- tribal.nic.in (tribal.nic.in/ScholarshiP.aspx)