India, Sept. 29 -- A scholarship they don't know exists. A legal document they don't know how to obtain. An application deadline they discover too late. And often, no mentor to guide them through college choices, applications and what comes next. For students whose parents have never been through this process, higher education often stalls at a government office, well before any entrance exam. In many cases, scholarships exist, but students struggle to access them. Pune-based Samavesh works to close this gap.

Since 2011, Samavesh has reached more than 5,000 school and college students and helped them secure Rs.13 crore in scholarship funding for higher education. More than 1,000 students have received sustained mentoring and counselling,...