If you search for the Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship today, you will find two kinds of pages: confident ones advertising a deadline, and cautious ones saying the portal is closed. Only one of those is consistent with what HEC itself currently publishes. This guide explains what the programme was, what it became, why no current deadline should be trusted from a third-party site, and — more usefully — what a student in need of undergraduate funding should actually do while the portal stays closed.
The short version: the programme has not vanished, but it is not accepting applications right now, and it no longer goes by the Ehsaas name on HEC’s site. Anyone selling you a current deadline is selling you something HEC has not published.
From Ehsaas to Benazir: the name change
The Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship was launched in 2019 as a large need- and merit-based undergraduate programme, implemented by HEC. In its early years it was described as awarding tens of thousands of scholarships each year to students from low-income families, covering tuition fees plus a living stipend, with half of awards reserved for girls and a share for differently abled students.
HEC now lists the programme under a different name: BISP Scholarships for Undergraduates, also described as the Benazir Undergraduate Scholarship Project (BUSP). The web address still contains the word “Ehsaas,” which is why searching either name leads to the same HEC pages. If you are looking for the programme under its old name and finding nothing new, that rename is the reason — you are looking in the right place under the wrong label.
The current status, as HEC publishes it
HEC’s How to Apply page for the programme currently carries a single, unambiguous line: the scholarship portal is currently closed. No new opening date or application deadline is confirmed on that page. Independent checks of HEC’s pages in August and September 2026 reached the same conclusion: portal closed, no confirmed round.
Closed does not mean abolished. It means no applications are being accepted at this moment, and no future date has been officially announced. That distinction matters, because it changes your task from “apply before the deadline” to “prepare so that you are ready if and when a round opens, and find interim support meanwhile.”
Be wary of pages that fill this gap with invented precision — a specific month, a “last date,” an “expected” window presented as fact. Some of these pages recycle content untouched for years, including deadlines from phases that closed long ago. If a deadline does not appear on an HEC page, treat it as unverified, however confidently it is stated.
What the programme covered, and who it was for
The design of the programme, as published by HEC and in its early official announcements, was aimed at undergraduate students who would otherwise struggle to afford higher education. Its main features were:
- Level: four- and five-year undergraduate degree programmes at public-sector universities recognised by HEC.
- Admission basis: newly admitted students on open merit. Self-finance, evening, distance-learning, and affiliated-college admissions were excluded, as were two-year, associate, and master’s programmes.
- Coverage: tuition fees as per actual cost, plus a living stipend. HEC’s pages have listed a stipend of Rs. 40,000 per annum; other figures circulating online, such as a monthly amount, have not been verified on HEC’s official pages and should not be quoted as current.
- One award at a time: students already holding another scholarship were excluded, and the award could not be combined with HEC’s need-based scholarship for the same period.
- Continuation: funding continued across semesters subject to satisfactory academic performance, and the award was not transferable to another university, programme, or session.
Two cautions belong here. First, HEC’s own eligibility page has, in recent checks, still described applicants in terms of a session from 2021 — a sign that the published pages have not been refreshed for a new intake, and a further reason not to treat any figure on them as automatically current. Second, the family income figure most often repeated online has not been verified on HEC’s official pages. Do not plan your eligibility around a threshold that HEC itself does not publish.
How selection worked when the portal was open
When rounds were running, the process combined an online application with university-level scrutiny. Students applied through the programme’s online system and submitted the form, then provided hard copies with supporting documents to their university’s financial aid office by the stated deadline. A scrutiny committee shortlisted candidates who met the eligibility criteria and provided complete information, including proof of family income, assets, and academic record. An institutional scholarship award committee then interviewed or recommended candidates, and successful students signed a deed of agreement before the financial aid office issued the final award letter.
That structure is worth knowing even now, because it tells you where to build relationships and gather documents: your university’s financial aid office is the place that will handle your file whenever a round reopens, not a distant central office you apply to blindly.
What to do while the portal is closed
1. Prepare the document file now
When a round eventually opens, the window may be short, and the students who miss it are usually the ones hunting for a missing document. Keep ready: your CNIC or B-Form, your parents’ CNICs, proof of family income, recent utility bills, and your latest academic transcript. Keep both originals and clear scans. If any document is inconsistent — a name spelled differently, an income figure that does not match a salary slip — sort it out now, not during an application week.
2. Talk to your financial aid office
Ask your university’s Student Financial Aid Office whether it has any update on the programme, and whether it runs its own need-based support in the meantime. That office is also the right place to confirm which current scholarships you can hold, since combining awards is a common disqualification.
3. Apply to programmes that are actually open
Do not wait for one closed programme while open ones pass by. Need-based and merit-based options at your own university, provincial scholarships, and HEC’s other schemes all run on their own schedules. For the documents those applications commonly require, see our guide to the HEC need-based scholarship documents — this guide deliberately does not repeat that document checklist, so you can use the two together without duplication.
4. Watch the right source
Check HEC’s own scholarship pages and your university’s notices, not WhatsApp forwards or social-media posts promising a deadline. A genuine reopening will appear on HEC’s site and will be announced through participating universities. If you hear about a date only from an unofficial page, verify it with your financial aid office before acting on it.
5. Protect yourself from scams
A closed portal creates a market for false promises. No agent can reopen the portal for you, reserve a place, or guarantee selection for a fee. The programme’s application process, when open, runs through HEC’s system and your university — anyone asking for payment to secure an Ehsaas or Benazir undergraduate award should be treated as a fraud risk. Our guide to fake government scheme websites and scams explains the warning signs in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship still running?
Under its current name, the Benazir Undergraduate Scholarship Project (BISP Scholarships for Undergraduates), the programme exists on HEC’s site but its application portal is currently closed, with no new round confirmed. That is a pause in applications, not proof that the programme has been abolished.
Can I still apply using the old Ehsaas website address?
The old programme address no longer works as a live application route in recent checks. Use HEC’s main site under Scholarships and Grants, and your university’s financial aid office, as the current route for information.
What was the stipend?
HEC’s pages have listed tuition as per actual plus Rs. 40,000 per annum. Because those pages have not been refreshed for a new intake, treat that figure as the last published figure, not a guaranteed amount for any future round.
Who was eligible?
Newly admitted students on open merit in four- and five-year undergraduate programmes at HEC-recognised public-sector universities, who were not holding another scholarship and were not admitted on self-finance, evening, distance-learning, or affiliated-college routes. Any future round may revise these conditions, so re-check them when it opens.
Where do I verify the current status?
On HEC’s programme page at hec.gov.pk, which currently states that the portal is closed, and with your university’s financial aid office.
Note: YouthSchemes.com is an independent information site, not a government portal. This guide reflects HEC’s published status at the time of writing; re-check HEC’s pages before acting on any future round.