Making Education Accessible: How Financial Aid Transforms Lives at Ashoka

At the time of its founding, Ashoka University was envisioned as, and remains, the largest collective philanthropic effort in Indian education. Over the past 10+ years, more than 180 donors have joined forces, pooling their personal resources towards a shared mission and vision – ensuring access to quality education for all, regardless of an individual’s financial background. Our philosophy is to make world-class education affordable and accessible to all students irrespective of whatever background they come from and giving financial aid is a key component of carrying out this commitment.

Given that philosophy, we follow a need-blind admission and need-based scholarship processt. While admission to Ashoka University is based on academics, extra-curricular activities and other holistic principles, financial aid is assessed entirely on the basis of the financial standing of the student’s family. Our endeavour is to provide necessary financial support which can help admitted candidates bridge the gap between the cost of the programme and their ability to pay.

A candidate’s ability to pay is assessed based on various financial resources available to their immediate family, including current income, savings, investments, and education loans, to finance the expected educational cost. If a student qualifies for financial aid, they can receive a waiver starting from 25% on the tuition fee to a full waiver on all costs which includes tuition, residence and meals. Need-based financial aid is available for all our programmes including undergraduate, postgraduate, and YIF.

As of April 2024, we have given a Financial Aid commitment of INR 510 Crores raised through philanthropy which has supported over 4500 students to achieve their dreams by availing financial aid from the institution. To date, 60% of the students enrolled in the University have been supported by financial aid. They have either paid a part of the fee or did not pay any amount of the fee. And 24% of all students have received a 100% tuition fee waiver or more which includes a waiver on residence fees, meal costs, stipends to meet daily expenses, stationary allowances, laptops and so on.

That’s what makes financial aid a unique and exclusive option where the aid is not given on the basis of a candidate’s merit, rather it’s given on the basis of need or requirement. Our aim is to ensure no student should be left behind on the basis of financial stress or burden. Every student has an equal right to quality education. We ensure all financial aid applications are looked upon with an in-depth financial analysis and accordingly a financial aid package is customised for each applicant based on evaluation and eligibility.