Liberal Arts: Scholarships a ‘backbone’ for needy students in private universities

NEW DELHI: Isha Thakur is in the fourth year of undergraduate studies, pursuing a major in political science and minor in media studies at Ashoka University, Sonepat. She is among the hundreds of students at the private university to receive a 100% need-based financial aid or scholarship.

Her father, an employee at a private company, is the sole earning member of the family in Bihar’s Madhubani district and earns about Rs 14,000 per month. Following a “rigorous admission process” comprising essays and interviews, Isha received an admission offer from Ashoka in 2020.

“After my admission, I applied for a need-based scholarship and secured 100% financial aid. Scholarships open the doors of colleges for us. Without a scholarship, it is very tough for families like mine to send their kids to study in any higher education institution, public or private,” Thakur told Careers360. Nearly 50% of all students enrolled in the UG programme receive varying degrees of need-based financial aid from Ashoka University, say its annual reports.

Thakur’s brother who just completed Class 12 applied for admission in three private liberal arts universities, securing offers from Krea University, Sricity, and Azim Premji University, Bengaluru but no scholarship. He is yet to receive an offer from Ashoka.

“My family is worried about his higher education. For people like us, scholarships are essential to get a university education. Even if he gets admission in Delhi University through Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET-UG), it would be tough for us to manage his educational expenses,” she said.

Also read Careers360's virtual Liberal Arts and Sciences Expo for Class 12 graduates on July 6, 7

Liberal arts: Elitism and diversity

Liberal arts education is expensive. In India, the liberal arts education structure is available mainly at private universities. Fees can run up to lakhs of rupees that only few can afford. However, in a bid to ensure diversity, these universities also offer need-based and merit-based scholarships. How much of the tuition or living cost is waived varies with the university.

The scholarships are a boon for students but they also help these universities counter criticism of being elite spaces, catering only to the very privileged.

“At OP Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonepat, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive learning environment and making quality education accessible to talented students from all backgrounds. We offer merit-cum-means (MCM) scholarships based on a combination of financial need, academic merit, extracurricular achievements, and faculty interview scores. In the 2023-24 academic year, over 55% of our Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities (JSLH) students received scholarships through this programme,” said vice chancellor C Raj Kumar.

A ‘backbone’ for students

In India, liberal arts courses in private universities can have fees ranging from Rs. 3 lakh for a four-year course – like at Parul University, Vadodara – to Rs. 30 lakh, like that in Ashoka University. Each university has its own process of admitting students. Typically, students receive scholarships based on their scores in entrance tests and financial conditions.

Abdul Nafe is in third year of BA Economics at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, and has received a 100% need-based scholarship. His father is a tailor in Delhi and his mother, a homemaker. For him, the scholarship is the “backbone” to his education.

“The scholarships enable students like me to pursue their dreams. It acts as a backbone for us to achieve higher education and get a better life,” he said.

Students getting admission in a four-year fully-residential UG course at Azim Premji University have to pay a tuition fee of Rs. 13,12,500 plus an accommodation charge of Rs. 3,20,000. However, the university offers scholarships ranging from full fee waivers to partial waivers to deserving candidates based on their income, institutional affiliation, and other factors. Students with an annual family income of less than Rs 12 lakh are eligible for different levels of scholarships.

Vedant Kotapalle is in second year of BA Honours with research in political science at Ashoka University. He has a full waiver on tuition and a partial waiter on hostel fees. His mother, a doctor in a government hospital in Nagpur, is the only working member in his family.

“I have to pay my mess bill and half of the residence fee which is around Rs 1.50 lakh for a year. It is still a lot of money and it’s not easy for me to muster my resources to pay this amount,” he said.

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In 2021-22, the latest data available, out of the 685 students admitted, 335 – or, 48% – received scholarships, according to Ashoka University’s annual review report. “An amount of Rs 69 crore was given by way of financial aid to undergraduate students during the academic year,” it said.

Adarsh Tiwari, another student at Ashoka University, has received a 95% need-based scholarship. His father is a private company employee. “Without scholarship, I won’t have been able to afford any university education. Scholarship helped me get through this college,” he said.

Scholarships: The challenges

Even though universities promise scholarships, there are riders. Scholarships depend upon the university’s fund for such grants and students need documents that prove their financial constraints.

“The admission process at these universities itself favours students from the city or rich kids. The soft skills that are required to clear the entrance tests and interviews prove to be major hurdles. Even if you clear everything to secure admission, you have to submit documents to get a scholarship. Students are offered scholarships, depending upon the money a university has for fee waiver. I am getting a 50% fee waiver and paying the rest,” said a student from OP Jindal Global University on the condition of anonymity.

The total tuition fee of four-year BA (Hons) Liberal Arts and Humanities at OP Jindal Global University is Rs. 24,00,000 lakh. Students also have to pay a residential fee of Rs. 12,40,000.

Shaloo Kumari (named changed on request) dropped out of FLAME University, Pune, even after receiving 100% scholarship as she was not getting the subject that she wanted to study, and also due to a compulsory work rule policy of the university.

“In my first year of graduation at FLAME in 2020, I did not choose any major and studied all the subjects offered under foundation course in the first year. I wanted to study history, but FLAME was not offering history at the time. This was one of the major reasons why I left FLAME as I was not able to study the subject I wanted to. Another reason was the compulsory work rule under which students receiving scholarships have to work for 10-15 hours in a week in different teams of the university administration. I did not like this idea… You are not offering scholarships if you are making people work for you,” she said. She ultimately graduated from DU’s Miranda House this year.

None of the students Careers360 spoke to said they had faced any kind of discrimination for being scholarship students.

“Even though there is no transparency on how many students from marginalised communities receive scholarships, there has been no instance of discrimination with any student due to fee waiver at Ashoka University. Most of the faculty at Ashoka are sensitive to the fact that there is a huge disparity among students,” Kotapalle said.

Also read NEP push for liberal arts education in public universities hobbled by lack of teachers, space

Maintaining diversity

Ravi Chakraborty, director of communication for liberal arts, Alliance University, Bengaluru, said at least 4% of students in liberal arts courses are given scholarships on the basis of their performance in the university’s entrance exams.

“We don't have to work hard to maintain diversity. By virtue of being in Bengaluru it so happens that we get students from all over the country…and [the] liberal arts department has the highest number of diverse students,” he said.

To mark its 15th anniversary in 2024, JGU is awarding over 2,000 scholarships to deserving students, with over 60% of their incoming class receiving financial aid. “This merit-cum-means scholarship programme ensures access to high-quality education for talented individuals, further enhancing the diversity of our student body,” said VC Kumar.

To ensure diversity, Ashoka University has provided need-based financial aid of Rs. 328 crore to 3,700 students in the last 11 years, it said in its annual review of 2021-22 academic session.