PM-USP Special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh (SSSJKL)

What is the PM-USP Special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh?

The PM-USP Special Scholarship Scheme for Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh (SSSJKL) is a central scholarship run by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) under the Ministry of Education. It sits inside the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Protsahan (PM-USP) Yojana, the umbrella under which the ministry's higher-education scholarships were reorganised. The scheme was earlier known publicly as the Prime Minister's Special Scholarship Scheme, or PMSSS.

According to the AICTE schemes page, SSSJKL exists to "build capabilities of the youth" of the two union territories by funding their undergraduate education in colleges outside Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The out-of-territory condition is deliberate: the scheme is framed as a national-integration measure under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, so a student who takes admission in a college within the two UTs is not covered.

Main features

• 5,000 scholarships every year, allocated across general degree, professional degree and medical streams.
• Academic fee is paid directly to the institution; the maintenance allowance is paid to the student by Direct Benefit Transfer.
• Admission is through a choice-filling and allotment process on the AICTE portal, not through direct application to individual colleges.
• The scholarship runs for the full duration of the course, subject to the student staying enrolled and meeting renewal conditions.

Who is eligible for the SSSJKL scholarship?

You are eligible if:

• You are a permanent resident of Jammu & Kashmir or Ladakh.
• You passed Class 12 from a school affiliated to JKBOSE or CBSE located in Jammu & Kashmir or Ladakh.
• Your family income from all sources is up to Rs 8 lakh a year.
• You are taking admission in a recognised institution outside the two union territories.
• You have registered for the relevant national entrance test; CUET for general degrees, JEE for engineering, NEET for medical courses, and the applicable test for law and other professional streams.
• You hold an engineering diploma and are seeking lateral entry into the second year of B.E./B.Tech, this route is separately provided for.

You are not eligible if:

• Your family income exceeds Rs 8 lakh a year. The AICTE portal makes this a declared field with only two options, and declaring Rs 8,00,001 or above ends the application.
• You passed Class 12 from a board or a school outside Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• You are taking admission within Jammu & Kashmir or Ladakh.
• You are already drawing another scholarship. AICTE states that availing any other scholarship alongside SSSJKL results in forfeiture of the scholarship and legal action.
• You have not registered for the national entrance test required for your stream.

What documents are required for SSSJKL?

How to apply for the SSSJKL scholarship

1. Open the official portal at aicte-jk-scholarship-gov.in during the registration window announced for the academic year.
2. Complete new candidate registration using your email address and mobile number, and verify the email link sent to you.
3. Fill the application form with your Class 12 details, domicile details, family income and national entrance test registration number.
4. Upload the scanned documents listed above.
5. Attend document verification in person at a Facilitation-cum-Document Verification Centre (FDVC) in the Jammu, Kashmir or Ladakh division before the date published for your category.
6. Complete choice filling — list the institutions and courses you want, in order of preference, within the window for your stream. Class 12 (HSC) and engineering diploma applicants have separate choice-filling windows.
7. Check the allotment result on the portal and accept the allotted seat.
8. Take admission at the allotted institution and upload the joining report on the portal so that the academic fee can be released to the college.

Registration, document verification and choice-filling windows are announced separately every cycle and are often extended. For the 2026-27 cycle, AICTE listed a Class 12 registration deadline of 27 July 2026 with choice filling for Class 12 applicants from 22 to 31 July 2026 and for diploma applicants from 24 July to 2 August 2026. Always confirm current dates on the portal, since they shift.

How much does SSSJKL pay?

According to the AICTE students' development schemes page, the scholarship has two parts and both are paid annually:

The academic fee is released to the institution against the joining report. The maintenance allowance covers hostel, mess, books and incidental costs and is paid into the student's own Aadhaar-seeded bank account in instalments. The maximum combined value is therefore Rs 4 lakh a year for a medical student.

Professional courses covered include engineering, nursing, pharmacy, hotel management, architecture and integrated BA LLB programmes at National Law Universities.

How to check your SSSJKL application status

1. Log in to aicte-jk-scholarship-gov.in with the credentials created at registration.
2. Open the application dashboard to see the stage your file has reached: registered, document verified, choice filled, allotted or joined.
3. If verification is marked incomplete, use the re-verification window that AICTE opens after each verification round.
4. For payment questions after allotment, raise a ticket on the AICTE grievance portal at css.aicte-india.org.

Help and grievance redressal

• SSSJKL helpline: 011-29581333 and 011-29581338, Monday to Friday, 10 am to 9 pm
• Technical support email: helpdesk1@aicte-india.org
• Grievance portal: css.aicte-india.org

There is no fee to apply for SSSJKL and no agent can secure a seat allotment. AICTE conducts all verification at its own FDVCs, and allotment is made only through the portal.