For years the government's help for poor students began at the MS and PhD level, long after most of them had already given up on university. The Benazir Undergraduate Scholarship, first launched as the Ehsaas scholarship, was built to fix that: it pays for the 4 or 5-year bachelor's that changes a family's income the most.
It is funded through the Benazir Income Support Programme and run by HEC with the public universities. Half of every batch is kept for women and 2% for students with disabilities, and more than 102,000 students have received it in its first three batches. There is no test. What decides is need, measured carefully: a family income of up to Rs 45,000 a month on the ministry's figures, checked against bills, rent, other children's fees and an interview.
The application has two halves, and many students lose the scholarship between them: you fill and submit the form online, then print it and hand it, with every supporting document, to your university's Financial Aid Office before its own deadline.