Swami Vivekanand Scholarship for Academic Excellence Yojana

What is the Swami Vivekanand Scholarship for Academic Excellence Yojana?

Swami Vivekanand Scholarship for Academic Excellence Yojana is a merit scholarship of the Department of College Education, Government of Rajasthan, which pays for a Rajasthan-domiciled student to study at a top-50 ranked university in India or abroad. The scheme was created to remove cost as the reason a high-scoring student from Rajasthan turns down an admission offer from a leading institution.

The scholarship covers tuition of up to Rs 50 lakh, with an additional living expense component for students studying overseas. 500 scholarships are awarded in a cycle; 350 for Indian universities and 150 for foreign universities. Study at the undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral levels is covered.

The scheme's central condition is the ranking test. An Indian institution must be ranked in the top 50 of the NIRF rankings; a foreign institution must be in the top 50 of the Times Higher Education rankings. This is the filter that disqualifies the largest number of otherwise-strong applications.

Scheme at a glance

• Running department: Department of College Education, Government of Rajasthan
• Awards: 500 per cycle (350 India, 150 abroad)
• Tuition ceiling: Rs 50 lakh
• Age limit: below 35 years
• Minimum marks: 60 per cent in the qualifying examination
• Application route: sso.rajasthan.gov.in, in notified phases

Who is eligible for the Swami Vivekanand Scholarship?

You can apply if:

• You are domiciled in Rajasthan and hold a mool niwas certificate.
• You are below 35 years of age on the cut-off date notified for the cycle, which has been 1 July in recent years.
• You have secured at least 60 per cent in your last qualifying examination; Class 10, Class 12, the UG degree or the PG degree, according to the level you are applying for.
• You hold an admission or offer letter from a university ranked in the top 50, NIRF for India or Times Higher Education for a foreign institution.
• You are enrolling in a full degree programme at UG, PG, PhD or post-doctoral level.
• You have a bank account capable of receiving DBT credits.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not domiciled in Rajasthan, even if you studied your school years in the state.
• You are 35 years or older on the cut-off date.
• Your qualifying examination score is below 60 per cent.
• Your university is outside the top 50 in the applicable ranking. This is absolute. A strong applicant with an offer from a rank-60 university is not eligible.
• You are enrolling in a diploma, certificate, short course or exchange semester rather than a full degree.
• You have not yet secured admission. The scheme funds an admission already in hand; an aspiration to apply abroad is not enough.

Family income does not disqualify anyone, but it decides priority. Applicants are classified into three bands:

Lower-income bands are given precedence when the 500 awards are allotted, so an E1 applicant competes on better terms than an E3 applicant with the same marks.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Swami Vivekanand Scholarship

1. Confirm your university's ranking first. Check the current NIRF ranking (Indian institutions) or Times Higher Education ranking (foreign institutions) for the year of the cycle. If the university is not in the top 50, the application will not clear scrutiny, and this check costs nothing.
2. Create or open your SSO ID at sso.rajasthan.gov.in. Registration is free and can be done with Jan Aadhaar, Aadhaar or Google.
3. Open the scholarship application from the Citizen Apps list on your SSO dashboard during a notified application phase. The 2025-26 cycle ran in three phases — 21 August to 20 September 2025, 21 October to 20 November 2025, and 1 to 15 January 2026 for remaining seats.
4. Fill the application form with your personal details, domicile, Jan Aadhaar number, academic record, university and course details, the fee structure and your bank account.
5. Upload the documents as clear scans; admission letter, marksheets, income certificate, mool niwas, age proof and, for overseas applicants, passport and visa.
6. Submit the application and save the application number from the acknowledgement screen.
7. Track the application on the same SSO dashboard. Selected candidates are published in a merit and category-wise list, and the sanctioned amount is released by DBT.

Applicants who cannot operate the portal themselves can have an e-Mitra centre file the same online form. There is no separate offline application.

How much is actually sanctioned?

The Rs 50 lakh figure is a ceiling for tuition, not a flat award. The sanctioned amount is computed from the university's own published fee schedule, which is why the fee structure document is mandatory. A student at an Indian top-50 institution with an annual fee of Rs 3 lakh receives a sanction built on that fee, not on the ceiling.

Students at foreign universities additionally receive a living expense component, which is why the overseas category is the more expensive of the two and is capped at 150 awards.

Disbursement is by Direct Benefit Transfer, typically released against the academic year and subject to the student remaining enrolled and in good academic standing. A student who discontinues the course must inform the department; continued drawal after discontinuation is recoverable.

How to check your application status

1. Sign in at sso.rajasthan.gov.in and open the scholarship application from your dashboard.
2. Use the application status option with your application number to see whether the file is under scrutiny, queried, selected or rejected.
3. Watch for the selection list published by the Department of College Education after each phase closes.
4. If a document query is raised, respond within the time allowed rather than filing a second application.
5. For unresolved issues, contact the Department of College Education at 0141-2706106.

Why applications get rejected

• University outside the top 50 in the applicable ranking. The single largest cause.
• Qualifying exam percentage below 60.
• Applicant aged 35 or above on the cut-off date.
• Admission letter not yet in hand, or a conditional offer without proof of firm admission.
• Domicile certificate missing or in a different name.
• Income certificate not matching the Jan Aadhaar family record, which affects band classification.
• Application filed outside the notified phase. The phases are short and strictly enforced.
• Not selected within the 500-award cap, which is a competitive outcome rather than a defect in the application.

Grievance redressal and contacts

• Department of College Education, Rajasthan: 0141-2706106
• Email: dce[dot]oap[at]gmail[dot]com
• Portal: hte.rajasthan.gov.in and the scholarship service on sso.rajasthan.gov.in
• Jan Soochna Portal helpline: 18001806127, for general scheme information

Application is free. No consultant or overseas-education agent has any role in the selection, and no fee paid to a third party improves an application's standing.