If you’ve landed on this page, you’ve probably spent some time scouting for material on scholarships in India. Needless to say, by now you must be well aware of the purpose of scholarships and the fact that each one needs fulfilling a specific set of criteria to become eligible.

Be it on the basis of merit, academic achievement, financial need, ethnicity, or something else, the Government of India offers a wide spectrum of scholarship opportunities to hopeful candidates all year round. Thus, regardless of your class, creed, category, or gender, you can rest assured that you will find many comprehensive scholarships to enhance your academic profile.

Among the several avenues a candidate can gather information from, Scholad is a one-stop solution to discover the most tailored scholarship opportunities in India. How can we confidently claim that and what makes Scholad stand out from other scholarships platforms out there, is what we’re going to cover in this article.

Starting with the basics – What is Scholad?

Scholad is a platform that allows scholarship seekers to access curated scholarship data, thanks to its powerful scholarship matching engine. This one-of-a-kind platform has been bridging the gap between scholarship seekers and providers since 2019.

As India's First Scholarship Matching Portal, Scholad assists deserving candidates by connecting them with the relevant scholarships that they are eligible for. So instead of every candidate being presented with a near-similar list of programs, each one is matched to a hand-picked set of only the programs he/she seeks and is eligible for.

Scholad works tirelessly to ensure that everyone has access to affordable higher education, and provides the most innovative way to find and match appropriate scholarships to the right candidates.

Some of the key factors that give Scholad its edge are:

• It’s extremely simple to use. You can essentially become a pro at scholarship hunting with Scholad using 3 basic steps:

  • Creating an account – The first step is setting up a candidate account.

  • Build your profile – Every candidate’s profile is built via answers to a set of questions, which helps the matching algorithm refine the search results for that candidate. Naturally, it’s highly unlikely for multiple candidates to give the same answers, and this is how Scholad makes sure every candidate gets matched to the programs he/she needs and is eligible for.

  • Viewing matched scholarships – Finally, you sift through the list of matched scholarships that Scholad presents to you and identify the ones you wish to apply to.

• Candidates can log in to the Scholad portal using their Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, Azure, or GitHub credentials.

• The operation of the platform differs from others, all thanks to its unique AI algorithm that finds scholarships based on eligibility criteria, and not to forget, the out-of-the-box profile candidates create on the portal.

• No two candidates are alike and so no two questionnaires are the same. Scholad provides questionnaires to candidates to learn more about their life and that information feeds the AI engine.

• The platform provides candidates with a more personalized and immersive experience.

But of course, we don’t expect you to just take our word for it. To help you make an informed decision, in the next section we have presented a brief overview of other leading scholarship search platforms in the country. The key difference to note here is that these platforms are simply scholarship "search" portals, whereas Scholad is a scholarship "matching" portal. So while you may get information about all the scholarships and grants available in our country through the other portals, which specific programs are most suitable to you and which are you eligible for is something only Scholad can tell you.

The distinction is as basic as looking for a spoon in a full-blown departmental store that has everything from a needle to a haystack, versus making a choice from the specific cutlery aisle!

A Quick Overview of other Scholarship Platforms

• Buddy4Study

  Launched in 2011, Buddy4Study is a scholarship search portal that also tries to bridge the gap between scholarship providers and recipients by simplifying the application process for scholarships. The platform achieves this by providing end-to-end application assistance, management, and monitoring of scholarship programs for providers.

• National Scholarships Portal (scholarships.gov.in)

  The National Scholarships Portal is a Digital India initiative and one-stop solution for various services, including scholarship search, student application, receipt, processing, sanction, and disbursement of multiple scholarships. Under the National e-Governance Plan, the National Scholarships Portal is considered a Mission Mode Project.

• Vidyasaarathi.co.in

  Vidyasaarathi is a technology-enabled initiative by Protean eGov Technologies Limited (formerly NSDL e-Governance infrastructure limited). It provides financial assistance to underprivileged students through corporate-sponsored scholarships. Its goal is to use an online platform to close the widespread education finance gap. Students can look for and apply for various educational financial aid programs on this platform. Fund providers, industries, and corporations can help promote skill development by designing education finance schemes based on merit.

• Scholarshipsindia - scholarshipsindia.org

  Scholarshipindia is a unique program of the renowned SRM trust, a reputed name offering quality school and higher education and healthcare services in many parts of India. It identifies academically talented, deserving students all over India currently in their final year in school, and awards them scholarships for higher education.

• Auro Scholar - auroscholar.com

  Auro Scholar Programme offers monthly online scholarships for school students in India. It offers students curriculum-aligned 10-min Mobile Quizzes at their preferred place and time at the Auro Scholar platform. Individuals participating in the 10 min curriculum-based quizzes get a scholarship worth INR 50 per quiz within 24 hours (INR 1,000 for 20 such quizzes). Among them, those who score less than 80% can study and retake the quizzes to win scholarships. The Auro Scholar project comes under the umbrella of Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry, which has a 60-year history and over 300 centers worldwide.

• Studyguideindia - studyguideindia.com

  Studyguideindia is a website that provides information on different colleges and courses. They provide information on education loans and scholarships, and solutions for students with communication problems.

• Study Portal Scholarships - Scholarshipportal.com

  They offer an extensive list of scholarship opportunities for universities in India, including the best national and international scholarships, fellowships, college and university grants, free scholarships, federal funding, and other forms of student financial aid. They offer 41 different scholarships to Indian students.

• Scholarships in India - scholarshipsinindia.com

  "Scholarships in India" has raised awareness about scholarships and financial aid among millions of students. With an incredible journey, "Scholarships in India" focuses on what lies ahead rather than holding on to the past. On their website, they have benefited thousands upon thousands of students. Their motto is to instill the importance of education in young minds and prepare them for a bright and successful future.

And now to answer the quintessential question…

How does Scholad differ from all these platforms?

• Scholad doesn't differentiate among students. While most scholarship search sites on the internet use generic text search engines and broad categorization, Scholad is the only platform that provides you with a scholarship search result that is instantly actionable for you.

• Scholad matches scholarships based on a candidate's true abilities instead of looking at other unimportant factors.

• Scholad provides questionnaires to candidates to learn more about their past, present, and future. Typical questions in a questionnaire inquire about a candidate's family background, educational history, and future goals and then sort and match the most appropriate scholarships with their profile. Every question answered by a candidate leads to a related follow-up question, which helps build the candidate's profile.

• Scholad doesn't advise candidates to apply for every possible scholarship. It suggests they be specific and only go after scholarships that suit their needs.

• Scholad also explains why (or why not) a candidate is eligible (or not suitable) for a particular scholarship, which many platforms miss out on.

• Scholad filters results based on your eligibility and justifies the findings. Weekly resources available at the platform are known to assist students in getting the most out of their scholarship hunt.

• Reading and digesting scholarship eligibility criteria can be confusing and sometimes outright contradictory. Scholad takes that pain out of the equation by doing the hard work for you and making them easier to understand.

• Scholad offers a more targeted and immersive experience to candidates.

In Conclusion

Finding scholarships is challenging, but specialized platforms like Scholad are easy to use and provide accurate information. Through their unique approach and advanced algorithms built into the AI engine, Scholad offers a novel approach to delivering relevant scholarships to the deserving candidates.

With that, we hope this article comes handy for the student community to enhance and enrich their educational experience.