The University Grants Commission (UGC) on September 5 announced fellowships and scholarship schemes that will benefit students aspiring to study at higher educational institutions across the country. While there are many similarities between the fellowships and scholarship, these two are different in many ways. Indianexpress.com explains the difference between these two concepts that provide monetary and experience benefits to people who have shown remarkable performances in their field of study.
Scholarship
A scholarship is usually a benefit for students up to the bachelors or masters degree level. While professional experience and achievements are a bonus for scholarship assessment, it is not the primary focus while assessing whether or not the candidate should be awarded a scholarship. Instead, scholarships are based on academic performances, extra-curricular achievements, financial status of a family and more.
Scholarships usually cover some part of the tuition fees of the selected candidates (or even the whole amount, in select cases). Some scholarships also cover accommodation, travel and other expenses related to living costs. Also, usually, interested candidates apply for a scholarship before starting the academic session/college year, and can also re-apply for it in the majority cases. Scholarships can be based on merit, need, talent, financial issues and more.
Fellowship
Unlike scholarships, fellowships are rewarded to selected candidates in the advanced years of their higher education, mainly for research purposes, postgraduate degrees, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes. While fellowships are offered to students with exceptional academic performance, relevant professional experience is also a huge criteria in the selection of candidates.
Unlike scholarships, work experience is not an added bonus and plays a huge role in the assessment of candidates.
Fellowships allow selected candidates to carry out research in their choice of discipline, and it usually works as a service option, rather than a simple reduction or discount of tuition fees and cost of living. Also, fellowships are generally non-renewable, unless stated otherwise. Different kinds of fellowships are available for medical, teaching, research, training programmes and also in the form of special memberships. Some fellowships can also be non-monetary based in which the candidate is only provided the resources needed to carry out, and not a salary.
Internships
Internships are short-term work experiences provided to aspirants by several companies, which help students learn the nitty-gritty of their chosen career/profession. Candidates are usually selected on the basis of a test or an interview which is conducted by experts from the company, and candidates are tested on their skills and knowledge related to their niche.
While some companies do pay a basic salary in exchange of work, a lot of internships are also unpaid and certificate-based. Internships not only help gain experience in office life, but it also helps people learn the basics and working style of their field, how to make connections, and develop hard and soft skills.
While usually internships are allowed for a couple of months or a fixed period of time, in some cases, internships can also lead to full-time job offers as some companies first employ a candidate as an intern to test him/her. Unlike scholarships and fellowships, internships do not provide monetary discounts or benefits related to research or tuition fees to the selected candidates; internships are simply about learning, experiencing and advancing one’s skills and knowledge.
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