The OpenShiksha Scholarships Initiative (OSSI) offers targeted scholarships to students from underserved communities, providing them with the necessary necessary financial assistance to complete professional degree programs.

The initiative was launched in January 2022 to address an important gap in the Indian educational system. Every year, there are tens of thousands of highly motivated and accomplished students that complete secondary school (12th standard) but are unable to pursue college degrees due to the lack of family resources. In many cases, these students do not qualify for financial aid or other governmental / non-governmental support. We partner with local educators, non-profits and universities to identify students that are facing these challenges and provide financial and non-financial support (see below) to support their progress through college.

• Financial support of upto ₹4,00,000 per year for tuition, hostel and mess fees.
• Material support for educational use including laptops, office supplies, etc.
• Open lines of communication with our team to help navigate financial and non-financial hurdles.
• Access to professional mentorship and guidance counseling.
• Access to summer internships and job opportunities.

We do not directly solicit applications and instead rely on partnerships with deeply embeded educators that are adept at recognizing talented students. We also believe in a flexible application process that doesn't impose an unfair burden on the very students we hope to support. That said, successful candidates will:

• Be identified by our partners as particularly passionate and motivated.
• Be able to demonstrate a clear financial need.
• Have a thoughtful and articulate position on why they believe attending their intended college program will help them achieve their long-term goals.

The deadline for the current cycle has passed. Please check back in June 2023 for updated application details.

As mentioned above, we do not directly solicit applications. Instead we work with our partner organizations and universities to identify meritorious students in particular need and then invite them to apply for a scholarship. Please contact us for a full list of our partner organizations.

The application consists of answering a set of short-answer questions, followed by a 30 minute phone / video call with our selection committee. Selected recepients will be notified via a formal acceptance letter that outlines the benefits and requirements of the scholarship. In order to simplify transactions, we work directly with our partner universities to handle fees disbursements, etc.

If you are a university, educator or educational non-profit and are interested in joining our network, please contact us. We would love to engage with you in identifying and supporting students in your community

Your donations will enable us to support more students and scale this initiative. Please reach out if you're interested in more information on how exactly your funds will be used.

Please use one of the following methods to donate to this cause. We can only accept donations from local indian accounts and NRE/NRO accounts. Donations are 80G detuctible, please contact us for the 80G receipt.

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. We can be reached at contact@socialseva.org and +91 9860073882.