Colleges that offer free seats or fee reimbursement based on IPE (Intermediate Public Examination) marks generally follow the state counselling calendar, not a single national entrance timeline. In most states such as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, applications for these seats usually begin after the declaration of Intermediate results, which typically happens between April and May each year. The counselling and seat allotment process is conducted through state-level admission portals like TS EAMCET counselling, AP EAPCET counselling, or degree admission portals such as DOST (Telangana) and OAMDC (Andhra Pradesh).

Once the notification is released, candidates must first register online, upload documents, and then participate in web-based counselling where seats are allotted based on IPE marks, reservation category, income criteria, and local area status. Free seats are usually linked to government quota seats along with fee reimbursement or scholarship schemes provided by the state government. Therefore, students should regularly check the state higher education council website and local newspapers from April onwards to avoid missing deadlines.