(L-R) Mr. James Montoya Chief of Membership Governance and
Global Higher Education Secretary of the Corporation at The College Board AND Ms. Linda Liu Vic

On 9 October 2018, the College Board, announced the launch of the College Board India Scholars Program at its India Global Higher Education Alliance Forum. Under the program, students who achieve high SAT scores will be recognized. And if these high-scorers are from low-income backgrounds, they will earn full-tuition scholarships to study at Indian member universities of the Alliance.

If you are planning to take the SAT, here are three simple steps to qualify as a College Board India Scholar:

Step 1: Take the SAT

Students need to take the SAT in grade 12. For the inaugural year, the October, December, and March exam scores will be used as qualifying exams for the Merit cum Means based scholarships. All SAT administrations will count as qualifying exams for subsequent years.

To ensure that low-income students are able to sit for the SAT, the College Board has engaged Buddy4Study, India’s largest scholarship platform to distribute SAT fee reductions to low-income students across India. The reductions for year one of the program will bring the test fees to ₹0 for students from families with annual household income less than ₹6,00,000. To apply for a fee reduction, visit www.buddy4study.com/collegeboard.

Dr. Meena Chintamaneni, Registrar, NMIMS commented, “A cornerstone of the Alliance is ensuring that all students have access to a high-quality education. Further, using the SAT as a common measure, with the possibility of fee reductions, inclusive education can now be a reality especially at premier institutions.”
 

Step 2: Earn ‘Top Performer’ Status

All students in India who score above 1350 (out of 1600) on the SAT will be designated College Board India Top Performers every April. Top Performers will receive a notification via their registered email address. This will include further instructions on how to apply for the scholarship.

Step 3: Low-income “Top Performers” Apply

to a participating member university of the India Global Higher Education Alliance.

Top Performers from households that earn less than Rs.4,00,000 per year may apply to be College Board India Scholars and earn full tuition scholarships to participating Alliance member universities in India.

The Selection of final recipients will be made by Alliance members by July of each year. To be eligible, a student must demonstrate financial need, have an admissions offer by the university, and ultimately enroll in an Alliance member university. The scholarships are only open to Indian residents.

Dr. Sanjay Sancheti, Vice Chancellor, SRM Institute of Science and Technology: “As a founding member of the Alliance, the College Board India Scholars Program is deeply important to our university. [We] want to open our doors to students for whom a private university education may not otherwise be possible.”