PM Laptop Scheme: Only 155 Universities Are Eligible

Only students at public sector universities on HEC's own list can apply. There are 155 of them, and if yours is not one, no amount of applying will help.

That list is the first thing to check, and almost nobody publishes it. We downloaded it from the scheme's own portal and read it.

Look at the two ends of that table. A student in Punjab is choosing among 54 eligible universities. A student in Gilgit-Baltistan has two.

Where to actually apply

The portal is laptop.pmyp.gov.pk. It is run with the Higher Education Commission, which we could confirm from the portal's own configuration rather than from anybody's say-so.

It offers three things: an Am I Eligible check, an application form, and the eligible universities list itself. Its own wording invites you to "apply or update your application", so an application already submitted can be revised there rather than started again.

One naming oddity worth knowing, because it causes confusion. The Prime Minister's Youth Programme site at pmyp.gov.pk calls the same thing "Laptop For All". The laptop portal calls it the PMYP Laptop Scheme. HEC's document calls it the Prime Minister's Youth Laptop Scheme. Three names, one scheme.

Nobody agrees on the dates, and here is why

Search this scheme and you will be told, confidently, several different things.

One site says Phase 6. Another says Phase 4. One gives a registration deadline of 1 August 2026, another 15 August 2026. They are all written as though settled.

We could not find any of it on a government page. What we can tell you is what HEC's own document says: the eligible universities list is headed Phase-IV.

And here is the part that explains the confusion. HEC's own website carries a "PM Laptop Scheme" link in its main menu, and that link goes nowhere. It points at a placeholder. Its scholarships and grants page lists around forty programmes and the laptop scheme is not among them.

So the country's own higher education regulator advertises the scheme in its navigation and publishes no page about it. That is the vacuum the invented deadlines fill.

We are not going to add a date to the pile. Check the portal, and check your own university's notice board, which is where distribution schedules have historically actually appeared.

What decides whether you qualify

Two things are certain from the scheme's own material.

1. Your university must be public sector and on the list. The document is titled a list of eligible public sector institutions. A private university does not qualify, at any campus, however well known it is.
2. Your university must appear by name. Being public sector is not enough on its own. The list is specific, and some public universities are not on it.

Beyond that, the portal runs an eligibility check on your details, and merit has always been part of the selection. We could not verify a CGPA threshold or a marks rule from any official source, so we are not printing one.

The full list of eligible universities

This is HEC's list, transcribed from its own PDF. Find yours before you do anything else.

Punjab, 54

• Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore
• NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology, Multan
• National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore
• National Textile University, Faisalabad
• Pakistan Institute of Fashion & Design, Lahore
• Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi
• Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi
• University of Engg. & Technology (UET) Taxila
• Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi
• Rawalpindi Women University, Rawalpindi
• Kohsar University, Murree
• Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan
• The Islamia University of Bahawalpur
• University of Agriculture (UAF), Faisalabad
• University of Engineering and Technology Lahore
• University of Education, Lahore
• University of the Punjab, Lahore
• University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore
• Government College University (GCU), Lahore
• Lahore College for Women University, Lahore
• University of Health Sciences, Lahore
• University of Sargodha, Sargodha
• Government College Women University, Faisalabad
• Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore
• University of Gujrat, Gujrat
• King Edward Medical University, Lahore
• Government College University, Faisalabad
• The Women University, Multan
• Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan
• Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan
• Government College Women University, Sialkot
• Information Technology University of the Punjab, Lahore
• Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan
• Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur
• Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering & Technology, Multan
• Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Lahore
• Nishtar Medical University, Multan
• Punjab Tianjin University of Technology , Lahore
• University of Okara
• University of Sahiwal, Sahiwal
• Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bahawalpur
• University of Narowal, Narowal
• Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad
• University of Home Economics, Lahore
• University of Mianwali, Mianwali
• University of Chakwal, Chakwal
• University of Jhang, Jhang
• Mir Chakar Khan Rind University of Technology, Dera Ghazi Khan
• Punjab University of Technology, Rasul-Mandi Bahauddin
• Emerson University, Multan
• Thal University, Bhakkar
• University of Child Health Sciences, Lahore
• University of Layyah
• Baba Guru Nanak University, Nankana Sahib

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 33

• Kalam Bibi International Women Institute, Bannu
• Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan
• Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, Peshawar
• Gomal University, D.I. Khan
• Hazara University, Mansehra
• Institute of Management Sciences, (IM Sciences), Peshawar
• The Islamia College, Peshawar
• Khyber Medical University, Peshawar
• Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat
• The University of Agriculture, Peshawar
• University of Engineering. & Technology, Peshawar
• Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper
• University of Malakand, Malakand
• University of Peshawar, Peshawar
• University of Science & Technology, Bannu
• University of Swat, Swat
• University of Haripur, Haripur
• Bacha Khan University, Charsadda
• University of Swabi, Swabi
• Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak
• Women University, Swabi
• Abbottabad University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abbottabad
• Shuhada-e-Army Public School, University of Technology, Nowshera
• Women University Mardan, Mardan
• University of Engineering. & Technology, Mardan
• The University of Lakki Marwat
• University of Buner
• University of Chitral, Chitral
• Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, Haripur
• The University of Agriculture, D. I. Khan
• University of FATA
• University of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Swat
• University of Agriculture, Swat

Sindh, 32

• Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science & Technology, Karachi
• Hyderabad Institute for Technology and Management Sciences, Hyderabad
• Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro
• Mehran University of Engg. & Technology, Jamshoro
• NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi
• Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science & Technology, Nawabshah
• Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur
• Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam
• University of Karachi, Karachi
• University of Sindh, Jamshoro
• Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi
• Institute of Business Administration, Karachi
• Sukkur, IBA
• Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU), Larkana
• Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University, Lyari, Karachi
• Peoples University of Medical & Health Sciences for Women, Shaheed Benazir Abad
• Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Shaheed Benazirabad (Nawabshah)
• Sindh Madressatul Islam University, Karachi
• Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi
• Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences, Khairpur
• Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law, Karachi
• Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University of Veterinary And Animal Sciences, Sakrand
• Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University of Technology & Skill Development, Khairpur Mirs
• University of Sufism and Modern Sciences, Bhitshah
• Shaikh Ayaz University, Shikarpur
• Government College University, Hyderabad
• Dawood University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi
• Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University, Sukkur
• The Sindh Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Karachi
• Aror University of Art, Architecture, Design and Heritage, Sukkur
• Shaheed Allah Bukhsh Soomro University of Art, Design & Heritages, Jamshoro
• Karachi Metropolitan University, Karachi

Federal (Islamabad and Rawalpindi), 17

• Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad
• Bahria University, Islamabad
• International Islamic University, Islamabad
• National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad
• Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
• COMSATS University, Islamabad
• National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
• Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Islamabad
• Air University, Islamabad
• Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad
• National Defence University, Islamabad
• Pakistan Institute of Development of Economics (PIDE), Islamabad
• Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University,, Islamabad
• National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi
• National University of Technology (NUTECH), Islamabad
• National Skills University, Islamabad
• Health Services Academy, Islamabad

Balochistan, 11

• Balochistan University of Engg & Technology, Khuzdar
• Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering & Management Sciences
• University of Balochistan, Quetta
• Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University, Quetta
• Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, District Lasbela
• University of Turbat, Turbat
• University of Loralai, Loralai
• Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences, Quetta
• Mir Chakar Khan Rind University, Sibi
• University of Gwadar
• University of Makran, Panjguar

Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 6

• The University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad
• Mirpur University of Science & Technology (MUST), Mirpur
• The University of Poonch, Rawalakot, AJK
• The Women University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Bagh
• University of Kotli, AJK
• The Azad Jammu & Kashmir University of Bhimber

Gilgit-Baltistan, 2

• Karakurum International University, Gilgit-Baltistan
• University of Baltistan, Skardu

If your university is not on the list

Then this scheme is not open to you, and it is better to know that today than after three weeks of chasing it.

Two other routes are worth knowing about instead:

Punjab runs its own laptop scheme, separate from the federal one, with its own rules and its own timetable. Phase 2 added NADRA verification and set a 100,000 target, and we cover where that stands in the Punjab laptop scheme phase 2 update.

Undergraduate scholarships are a different and often larger form of help than a laptop. The BISP undergraduate programme runs through HEC and covers fees and a stipend, and we set out how it works in the BISP undergraduate scholarship guide.

The messages that are not from HEC

Any scheme that hands out something valuable attracts fraud, and this one has for years.

The pattern is a message saying you have been selected, followed by a request for a fee, a form on a lookalike site, or a code sent to your phone. Selection is published through your university, and no legitimate part of this process asks you for money or an OTP.

We covered how the fake version of the provincial scheme works in the fake laptop scheme messages, and the same tells apply here.

If one has already reached you, it is worth reporting rather than just deleting. Forwarding it takes a couple of minutes and the steps are in how to report a fake call or SMS scam.

What we could not verify

The list above and the portal details were read at source on 25 August 2026. Everything below, we could not confirm, and we would rather leave a gap than fill it.

Whether applications are open right now. The portal shows an apply option, but no official page states a current window.

The current phase. HEC's list is headed Phase-IV. Whether a later phase has since opened, we cannot say from any government source.

Any deadline. The dates circulating are not on a government page we could reach.

The CGPA or merit rule, and the claim that a fixed share of laptops is reserved for Balochistan.

Distribution dates. There has never been a single national date. Universities announce their own ceremonies, which is why a general answer to that question does not exist.

We hold no student account, so we could not run the eligibility check ourselves.

Questions readers are asking

Who is eligible for the PM Laptop Scheme?

Students at public sector universities named on HEC's eligible list, which currently holds 155 institutions. Private universities do not qualify.

Where do I apply?

At laptop.pmyp.gov.pk, which is run with HEC. It also carries the eligibility check and the university list.

What is the deadline?

No government page we could find states one. The dates circulating online contradict each other and none is verifiable.

Which phase is running?

HEC's eligible universities list is headed Phase-IV. Sites claiming Phase 6 do not cite a government source.

Is my private university included?

No. The document is explicitly a list of eligible public sector institutions.

When will laptops be distributed?

There is no single national date. Universities announce their own distribution, so watch your own institution's notices.

Someone messaged saying I was selected and asked for a fee. Is it real?

No. Selection is announced through your university, and no part of this process asks for money or a one time code.