All Young India Fellows in the Class of 2025-26 will receive scholarships
Admissions open from 15 October 2024, first deadline on 5 January 2025
Ashoka University announced today that all Fellows will receive scholarships – partial or full – for the upcoming 2025-26 cohort of the Young India Fellowship, its flagship postgraduate programme. Scholarships will start from a 25% waiver on tuition and go up to a 100% waiver on tuition, residence, and meals along with a stipend for financial assistance. The Chancellor’s Merit Scholarship will continue to be awarded in the Class of 2026.
81% of the current cohort (2024-25) of Young India Fellows is on partial or full scholarships, with 60% of the cohort on a full tuition waiver or more. Roughly 1/3rd of the current Fellows identify as first-generation college goers. To know more about the YIF Class of 2025 composition, click here.
The increase in scholarships has been possible primarily due to the generous support by HDFC Bank. Going forward, the programme aims to make the Fellowship more accessible to exceptional and deserving individuals coming from all walks of life.
Reflecting on these developments, Pramath Raj Sinha, Chairperson, Board of Trustees, Ashoka University, remarked:
“The YIF has always been close to my heart, given that it predates the formation of Ashoka University. With increased scholarships thanks to generous contributions by HDFC Bank, we want to truly attract the best and brightest, to experience what this unique programme offers.”
Somak Raychaudhury, Vice Chancellor, Ashoka University, shared:
“I am greatly enthused and excited about this new chapter where the programme is evolving its mission and funding. I look forward to supporting this ambitious programme and to teaching future generations of Fellows, which continues to be among my most cherished experiences.”
Eligibility, Selection and Scholarships: Class of 2026
The Class of 2026 will comprise around 100 Fellows. Candidates of all age groups and nationalities, across diverse academic, professional, geographical and socioeconomic backgrounds, who have a recognised undergraduate degree in any discipline by July 2025 or earlier (can be a final-year student at the time of application) are eligible to apply for the YIF.
The admissions process opens on October 15, 2024 and is split into two rounds, with the first application deadline being January 5, 2025. Candidates are encouraged to apply early, even within a round, to partake in the rolling personal interviews process.
To apply, aspirants should visit apply.ashoka.edu.in to register their account and complete the online application. Following holistic assessment of applications, a few candidates will be shortlisted for personal interviews. Some shortlisted candidates will receive another invitation to appear for the Chancellor’s Merit Scholarship interview.
All Fellows who receive an offer of admission will receive a 25% Minimum Tuition Waiver, while some offer holders will also receive the Chancellor’s Merit Scholarship. All admitted and waitlisted candidates will then have the opportunity to apply for need-based Financial Aid.
Admissions Open | 15 October 2024
Round 1 Deadline | 5 January 2025
Round 2 Deadline | 10 March 2025
About the YIF: Faculty and Mission
Instituted in 2011, Ashoka University’s flagship programme, the YIF, offers a year-long residential postgraduate diploma focussed on multidisciplinary and multidimensional learning. Fellows study around 20 courses across various disciplines, work on a real-world project and learn how to think and express effectively, all while being mentored and guided by stalwarts and senior alumni across fields. Over 2300 alumni, across the past 14 years, continue to make an impact across government, civil society, development, academia, research, sports, performing arts, multilateral organizations, the corporate sector, and as entrepreneurs.
Moving forward, the YIF will aim to educate and nurture Fellows to engage with the most complex and pressing issues of our time. Fellows will learn from various interdisciplinary lenses that will ultimately help them co-create a better world. On this journey, they will learn from public intellectuals and eminent academics. Currently, these include: Rudrangshu Mukherjee (Chancellor and Professor of History, Ashoka University), K VijayRaghavan (Former Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India), Arun Kumar Singh (Former Indian Ambassador to the United States), Somak Raychaudhary (Vice Chancellor and Professor of Physics, Ashoka University), Dipankar Bhattacharya (Professor of Astrophysics and Head of the Department, Physics, Ashoka University), Sunil Khilnani (Former Director of the King’s India Institute), Mekhala Krishnamurthy (Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University), Pramath Raj Sinha (Chairperson, Board of Trustees, Ashoka University), Madhavi Menon (Professor of English, Ashoka University), Jonathan Gil Harris (Professor of English, Ashoka University), Santosh Venkatesh (Professor, University of Pennsylvania), Kenwyn Smith (Former Professor, University of Pennsylvania), AK Shiva Kumar (Development Economist) and Urvashi Butalia (Padma Shri and Founder, Zubaan Books), among others.
For a longer list of courses taught at the YIF, click here. More information on the YIF can be found on yif.ashoka.edu.in.