BENGALURU: The Higher Education Department has announced the Deepika Scholarship Scheme for 2026–27, aimed at helping girl students from government schools to pursue higher education and reducing the dropout rate after Class 12.
Under the scheme, eligible students will receive Rs 30,000 per year until the completion of their degree course. The scholarship can be used towards tuition fees or other educational expenses. Students who have completed Classes 10 and 12 in government schools or colleges and are pursuing a general degree, professional degree or post-PU diploma are eligible. The higher education institution can be government, aided or private.
For the academic year of 2025-26, 14,262 students have received Rs 30,000 each, while 6,700 applications are under scrutiny by the department.
For this academic year, the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board has provided the department with details of 51,399 girls who have passed Classes 10 and 12 in government institutions. SMS notifications have been sent to those among them who are pursuing higher education, asking them to apply for the scholarship.
The department has directed 440 government first grade colleges and 421 aided first grade colleges to inform the eligible students about the scheme.
The scholarship has two components. The Azim Premji Foundation will provide 37,000 scholarships annually, while the state government will extend the same Rs 30,000 benefit to eligible applicants beyond this number.
Fresh applications for the first round are open from August 10 to 31, while renewal applications can be submitted from September 15 to October 30. A second window for fresh applications will be open from January 10 to 31, 2027.
The students should submit documents such as marks cards of Class 10 and 12, admission receipt, bonafide certificate, photograph, signature, Aadhaar card and Aadhaar-linked bank passbook along with their applications.