If you have searched for the Prime Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme recently, you have probably found pages that still say “apply now” — some even carrying a 2026 date. That advice is wrong, and following it wastes the weeks you could spend on a scholarship that is actually open. Here is the position as HEC itself states it.
The scheme is closed for new registration
HEC’s own page for the Prime Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme for Less Developed Areas (Selected Regions) carries one line at the top, in bold: “The Scheme is closed for new registration.” There is no new intake, no current form, and no reopening date on that page. This post gives no reopening date either, because none has been announced on the official page.
What the scheme covered when it ran
The scheme began in financial year 2012–13, initially for five years, with students who joined in the final year, 2016–17, continuing to be funded until they finished their programme. It was aimed at students from less developed areas studying in public-sector institutions in their region of domicile — including Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, the former FATA areas, interior Sindh, south Punjab, Malakand, Kohistan and Dera Ismail Khan, among the listed areas — and it covered:
- Actual tuition fee for Masters, MS/MPhil and PhD programmes.
- Approved mandatory charges: registration or enrolment fee, admission fee for new admissions only, examination fee, non-refundable library charges, laboratory charges and research-related academic charges.
- It did not cover transport, hostel, sports, endowment, equipment or health fees, or any refundable dues.
Maximum funded durations were two years for MA/MSc and MS/MPhil, three and a half years for MBA, two to three years for MS/MPhil in medical universities, and up to four years for a PhD, counted from the start of classes. Those details matter only if you are checking an old beneficiary’s history; they are not an application route today.
Why so many pages still say “apply now”
Old scheme pages were copied, re-dated and re-posted for years, and search results still surface them above the official closed notice. A page that shows a registration button, a CNIC entry box or a “last date” for this scheme, without linking to HEC’s closed notice, should be treated as stale. If a person or website offers to register you for a fee, that is a further warning sign — read our guide on how to spot fake government scheme websites and agents before sharing any document.
Live alternatives to try instead
| If you need | Try this first | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Fee help at a Pakistani university | HEC Need-Based Scholarship: documents and process | Need-based support for students already admitted or seeking admission |
| Full tuition cover in Punjab | Honhaar Scholarship Phase 4: apply online and last date | 100% tuition cover for selected disciplines and institutions in Punjab |
| Support in Punjab at school-to-university level | PEEF scholarship: Punjab eligibility | Provincial merit- and need-based route for Punjab students |
Before choosing, check two things that the old reimbursement scheme never required you to weigh in the same way: whether the alternative covers tuition only or also other charges, and whether it is tied to your domicile, your institution, or both. A scholarship that looks generous but excludes your institution is not a plan; it is a distraction from the one that includes it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still register for the PM fee reimbursement scheme?
No. HEC’s page states the scheme is closed for new registration, and no new intake is advertised on it.
I was funded under the old scheme. Does closure affect me?
The scheme’s own terms provided that students who joined in its final year would continue to be funded until they completed their programme. If you are an old beneficiary with a payment query, contact HEC through the address given on its scheme page (HEC query email tfp@hec.gov.pk) rather than re-applying through any third-party form.
Is there a new scheme with the same name coming?
Nothing on HEC’s official scheme page announces one. Treat any such claim as unverified until HEC itself publishes it.
Losing a scheme that paid tuition for students from less developed areas is a real setback, and this post does not soften that. The useful response, though, is not to keep refreshing a closed form — it is to put the same application energy into a live route that fits your domicile and institution, starting with the three above. We publish these status checks independently, without any connection to HEC, so that you do not spend a semester chasing a door that is already shut.
