Leaving a children’s home? The Care Leaver Scholarship
Full college education funded — tuition, hostel, and exams. It costs nothing to ask.
Our programmes
Eight pathway for every need
100% of your education, funded
If you grew up in a registered Child Care Institution — a Bala Sadan, a Balika Sadan, an orphanage, or any registered children’s home — and you are now leaving at 18 with no family to return to, the Vedicology Foundation Care Leaver Scholarship funds 100% of your college education. That means your full tuition, your full hostel and accommodation, and your full examination fees, for the whole length of your course, paid directly to your institution. You need 60% in Class 12 to apply — and if college is not your path, we will fully fund a vocational course instead.
This is the only support we offer that covers the complete cost of an education. We can do this for you because a girl leaving care has no family to help with the rest — so we step in fully.
In India, too many girls reach 18, leave the only home they have known, and find there is nowhere to go and no one to pay for what comes next. The Foundation does not accept that. It does not matter how you came to be in care, or how you grew up. What matters is that you have cleared Class 12, you have the will to study, and you should not be stopped now by the one thing you never chose — having no family behind you.
Age eligibility
We support adolescent girls and women aged 18 and above. We do not fund minors.
Who this scholarship is for
This scholarship is for a girl who was raised in a registered Child Care Institution and is now leaving it, at around 18, with no family to return to.
It does not matter how you came to be in care. You may have lost both your parents. You may have been left there. Your parents may be alive but unable to care for you for reasons outside your control. None of that changes anything. The one thing that matters is simple: you are stepping into adult life with no family to support you, and you want to keep studying.
It is meant for the moment you are in now — finishing school and moving into college or a course. If that is where you are, this was written for you.
What it covers — 100% of your education
For girls leaving care, the Foundation does not fund a part of your education. It funds all of it.
Tuition fees — 100%
Your full college tuition is paid, for your entire programme.
Hostel and accommodation fees — 100%
You have no home to live in while you study, so the Foundation makes sure you have one. Your full hostel fees are covered.
Examination fees — 100%
Covered in full.
Everything is paid directly to your college or institution, for the full length of your course.
This is the only support the Foundation offers that covers the complete cost. Every other student is funded between 50% and 75% of fees, because most students have at least some family able to contribute the rest. You do not — so this full support is reserved for girls leaving a Child Care Institution. It is not the general scholarship. It is a promise made specifically to you.
What marks do you need?
You need 60% in Class 12 to apply — and that is the same whether you are going on to an undergraduate or a postgraduate course.
That is a lower bar than any of the Foundation’s other scholarships. It is set there on purpose, because reaching Class 12 at all — with no parent and no home of your own — is its own kind of achievement.
How long it lasts, and how to keep it
The scholarship lasts for the full length of your degree, undergraduate or postgraduate. To continue, you need 70% in each semester — the same gentle standard set for full orphans, because the road has been just as hard.
Your very first semester is a grace period. Your support is not paused no matter what your marks are, because settling into college with no family behind you is hard, and that is understood from the start.
If your marks slip after that, you get one recovery semester to bring them back up. The moment they recover, your support continues automatically. You never have to apply again.
If college is not your path
Not every girl leaving care wants a college degree, and that is completely all right.
If your strength is in skills rather than the classroom, the Foundation will fully fund a vocational training course instead — so you leave with a trade, a certificate, and a way to earn. This is an equal path, not a lesser one. Tell us what you are drawn to, and we will help you build a life around it.
Read more about Vocational TrainingA trade, fully funded
- A skill you choose, taught end to end
- A recognised certificate at the finish
- A way to earn and stand on your own feet
How you prove you are a care leaver
You will need the documents a girl leaving a Child Care Institution would normally have:
- A referral or discharge letter from your CCI Superintendent
- Your orphan or care records from the institution
- Your usual identity and academic documents
Important
Vedicology Foundation never charges any application fee, processing fee, registration fee, or documentation fee. Our support is completely free. If anyone asks you for money claiming to represent us, please report it immediately:
In your case, the visit the team usually makes to a student’s home becomes a visit to your institution instead — we speak directly with the people who have cared for you.
And if any document is hard to get, do not let that stop you. Reach out, and we will help you put everything in order. A missing paper is never a reason not to ask.
Frequently asked questions
I was not orphaned — I ended up in the children’s home another way. Do I still qualify?+
Does it really cover everything — tuition, hostel, and exams?+
What marks do I need?+
What if my marks drop once I am in college?+
What if I do not want to go to college?+
Does it cost anything to apply or to ask?+
Not sure if this is for you?
Leaving care soon and worried about what comes next? It costs nothing to ask. Talk to us, or ask someone at your institution to contact us on your behalf — ideally before you leave, while your records are easy to gather.