Check the USAID Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship at HEC: Closed, With Options to Try Now

Short answer: The USAID-funded Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program on the HEC website is closed for new intake. The last round on its eligibility page was for women in Academic Session 2021, at 30 institutions. If you see an offer to apply now, do not pay anyone. Use a live HEC need-based scholarship instead.

Search for a need-based scholarship in Pakistan and this programme often comes up near the top. It sounds perfect: tuition, books, boarding and transport paid for a student who cannot afford them. But the HEC page says plainly that it is not taking new students.

We read the programme's pages on the HEC website on 14 October 2026. This piece tells you what the scheme was, what it paid for, and where to look now. It is for students and parents who found the name in a search, a WhatsApp forward or an old list.

HEC lists the programme as closed for new intake

The HEC page for the USAID-funded Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship Program says the status is "closed for new scholarship intake." The programme has run since 2004 for students who did well in class but could not pay. No deadline or open round is shown.

The programme was funded by USAID and run by HEC. The students it served were those with good grades and a proven money problem. Both tests, merit and need, had to be met, which is why the name has two parts.

That means a student cannot apply this year. The page gives no sign that a new round is planned. Treat any ad that says "applications open" for this name as a warning sign until HEC says otherwise on its own site.

Phase I and Phase II reached thousands of students

HEC says Phase I began in 2004 at a cost of about US$10.63 million. It funded 1,807 scholarships at 11 universities, in agriculture and business only. Phase II began in 2013 with an estimated US$23.1 million and 3,000 more scholarships, half of them reserved for women.

Phase I was limited to agriculture and business. Phase II widened the subject list to engineering and technology, medicine, nursing and social sciences. Half of its awards were for women, which fits the later 2021 round for women only.

Phase II also paid for training for institutions and HEC, career workshops for students and work to strengthen the alumni network, according to the same page.

The last listed round was for women in 2021

The eligibility page lists females only, for Academic Session 2021, in 30 public and private participating institutions. The programmes were master's, MBA, MS, MPhil and education teaching degrees in selected subjects. A student also had to meet the need test and give all the information the rules asked for.

The financial support page says the scholarship funded tuition fees, books, boarding and lodging, transport and other academic costs. It does not print an amount or a cap. We cannot say how much a student received, and we will not guess.

Where to look instead

If you need money for fees, start with a live programme. The HEC need-based scholarship runs through your university, and several universities post their own deadlines. The list below links to guides that check each one.

1. Read how to apply for the HEC need-based scholarship through your university.
2. Check the list of scholarships closing in October 2026.
3. Ask your university's financial aid office for its own deadline.
4. Look at the Bait-ul-Mal education stipend if your family has a low income.
5. Keep your fee challan, CNIC copy and income proof ready.

Some universities run the HEC scheme with their own forms. See the examples for COMSATS Lahore and for Virtual University. Students whose parents work abroad can also read about the OPF scholarship.

Avoid paying for a closed scholarship

HEC lists no fee on this page and no agent. Anyone who asks for money to secure a place in a closed scheme is not acting for HEC. Report such a message to your university and do not send any ID or bank details.

Check the web address too. HEC pages end in hec.gov.pk. If a page asks for a fee and sits on a different address, leave it.

Common questions

Is the USAID HEC scholarship open now?

No. The HEC page says it is closed for new scholarship intake.

Who could apply in the last listed round?

Women in Academic Session 2021, in master's, MBA, MS, MPhil and education teaching programmes at 30 institutions.

How much did the scholarship pay?

HEC's pages do not state an amount. They list tuition, books, boarding, transport and other academic costs.

How many scholarships were given in total?

HEC states 1,807 in Phase I and 3,000 in Phase II, which adds up to 4,807.

Which scholarship should I try instead?

Try the HEC need-based scholarship through your university, and ask its aid office for dates.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 14 October 2026, Pakistan time. We read the HEC USAID Merit and Needs-Based Scholarship page and its eligibility and financial support pages. We could not open the How to Apply page, and HEC's pages show no amounts. Confirm the status with HEC before you act on any message.