Every day a new educational institution appears in one part of India or another, displacing our already expanding map of colleges and universities. Today we have 789 universities, 37,204 colleges and 11,443 independent institutes in India as per UGC report. Although the number of colleges and universities is growing, their enrollment rate is not very encouraging.

There could be a number of reasons why student enrollment at universities is low despite the availability of seats. One of those reasons could be students' preference for paying jobs over tuition-paying universities. It would not be wrong to say that the financial condition of most of these students does not allow them to afford to pursue higher education.

To address this problem and attract more students to universities, our government and many private entities are working on national scholarships for university students. These scholarships cater to the diverse needs of students to ensure that for those pursuing postgraduate studies, lack of financial support never becomes an issue.

With this vision in mind, various websites, such as Buddy4Study, provide information on national scholarships for college students, so that comprehensive information is available to the student. Let's take a look at these scholarships.

• Central Sector Scholarship Program for College and University Students 2017-18

Launched by the Government of India, this National Scholarship for Undergraduates has been designed to provide financial support to outstanding students.

Students who are pursuing regular engineering or medical courses and who score above 80% at the 12 term board can apply for this scholarship. Your household income should also not be more than INR 6 Lac per year.

• The scholarship is up to INR 20,000 annually.

AICTE-Saksham Scholarship Program 2017

Designed by MHRD and implemented by the Technical Education Council of India, the AICTE-Saksham Scholarship Scheme is for students with disabilities who wish to study a Diploma/Degree level technical course at an AICTE accredited institute.

To be eligible, the candidate must have a disability level of more than 40% and the total household income must not be more than INR 8 Lac.

The successful candidate will receive up to INR 30,000 per year and other incentives like scholarship.

Scholarship from the Ministry of Labor and Employment before and after finishing undergraduate studies 2017-18

This scholarship has been announced for students working in the wings of Bede workers, iron ore miners, manganese ore miners, chrome ore miners (IOMC), limestone and dolomite miners (LSDM) and film workers. .

Under this scheme, eligible candidates will get up to INR 3000 as scholarship.

• Minority Post-Secondary Scholarship Program 2017-18

Offered by the Government of India, this scholarship is for students from class 11 to Ph.D. To be eligible to apply for the scholarship, candidates must have scored at least 50% marks in the previous exam and their family annual income must be less than INR 2 Lac from all sources.

As a scholarship, eligible students will receive acceptance, course, and tuition fees, as well as a maintenance allowance.

• Merit Care Mean Scholarship 2018

Launched by Buddy4Study, this scholarship is for students looking to graduate. To be eligible, the student must have obtained a 75% or higher on the last exam. Annual household income should not be more than INR 2 Lac.