Losing a parent changes everything, and it should never also cost you your education. It costs nothing to ask.
If you are a girl who has lost one or both of your parents, there is a good chance the Vedicology Foundation can help you stay in education. We support full orphans — girls who have lost both parents — as well as girls whose father has died and whose mother has no income to fund their studies, and girls who have lost their mother and whose father cannot provide. And if you are a full orphan, the marks you need to qualify for our main scholarship are lower — 75%, where other students need 85% for UG and 80% for PG.
If you grew up in a registered children’s home and are leaving at 18 with no family to return to, your support is different and even fuller — see “Did you grow up in a children’s home or hostel?” below.
If this sounds like your situation, you can reach out to us. It costs nothing to ask.
Losing a parent changes everything, and it should never also cost you your education. The Foundation works across Tamil Nadu and Kerala to help orphaned girls keep studying — by paying part of your fees, by coaching you for competitive exams, and by standing with you through the years it takes to finish. This page explains who we mean when we say “orphan girls,” what makes the terms easier for you, and how to begin.
We support girls and women aged 18 and above. We do not fund minors.
We help orphaned girls in three situations. You do not need to know which “category” you fall into — just read these and see if one sounds like your life.
Category 1Both your mother and your father have passed away. (This is what we call a full orphan — Category 1.) If you now live with family — grandparents, an aunt or uncle, other relatives — this page is for you. If instead you grew up in a children’s home or institution and have no family at all, there is a fuller, separate scholarship made for you; see “Did you grow up in a children’s home or hostel?” below.
Category 2Your mother is alive, but she has no earnings, savings, or resources to fund your education on her own. (Category 2.)
Category 5Your mother has passed away or is no longer present, and your father is unable to support you — because of a total and permanent disability, a critical illness, a severe mental illness, complete dependence on alcohol or drugs, or because he is in prison. (Category 5.)
If your situation is close to one of these but not exactly the same, please still get in touch. We would rather you ask than rule yourself out.
If both your parents have passed away, you have carried more than most students your age ever will. We recognise that by setting the marks bar lower for full orphans.
For our Merit Scholarship, a full orphan qualifies at 75% — in Class 12 for UG, and as an average across all graduation semesters for PG — where other eligible students need 85% for undergraduate study and 80% for postgraduate study. It is a small acknowledgement that you have done your studying without the support most children take for granted.
The bar to keep your scholarship is gentler too: 70% in each semester, where other students need 80%. Your first semester is a grace period.
This 75% bar is for a full orphan who still has family around her — grandparents, relatives, or guardians who form a household, and who can help with part of the fees. If you instead grew up in a children’s home with no family at all, your situation is different, and so is your support — see “Did you grow up in a children’s home or hostel?” below.
We know your home holds just as much loss. Losing your father, or your mother, and watching the parent left behind try to hold everything together — that is its own kind of weight, and we do not measure it as any less.
For the Merit Scholarship, your marks bar is the same as for other students we support: 85% for undergraduate study and 80% for postgraduate study. The lower 75% bar is only for girls who have lost both their parents. We wanted to be honest with you about that from the start, rather than let you hope for one figure and meet another — not because your loss counts for less, but because the numbers we look at are simply different.
And wherever you fall, if your marks are a little under these numbers, please do not close this page and decide it is not for you. Reach out and tell us your situation — especially if your college or board marks strictly. We look at the whole of your life, not only a percentage. It costs nothing to ask.
The full table for every programme is on our Marks Eligibility page. See the complete figures on the Marks Eligibility page.
If you did not just lose your parents but were raised 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 care with no family to return to, this part is for you.
Your support is different from everything above, and it is fuller. It is called the Care Leaver Scholarship, and it is the deepest help the Foundation offers. Where the Merit Scholarship pays 50% to 75% of your fees, this one pays 100% of your tuition, hostel and exam fees, for UG and PG, and asks for 60% in Class 12. We can do that because you have no family to help with the balance, so we carry all of it. It does not matter how you came to be in care — only that you are stepping into adult life with no family behind you, and you want to keep studying.
To keep it, you need 70% in each semester. Our Programme Officer visits your institution instead of your home. If a degree is not the right path, we fully fund a vocational course instead. Please contact us early — ideally before you leave the institution.
It was written for girls in exactly your situation. Please read about it.
Read about the Care Leaver ScholarshipBeing an orphaned girl does not limit you to one programme. Depending on where you are in your studies and what you are aiming for, you may be able to apply for:
Our main scholarship, which pays 50% to 75% of your tuition, hostel and examination fees directly to your college or university.
One year of support if you are already in college and at risk of dropping out over fees — 50% to 75% of your tuition, paid to your college. It asks for 75% in Class 12 (for UG) or 70% in graduation (for PG), and if you reach the Merit Scholarship marks, you can move to the Merit Scholarship.
Coaching for exams like NEET, JEE, CA, CMA, UPSC, and CAT, each with its own marks requirement.
Vocational Training, and Exam Fee Support for students of government institutions (not government-aided) — neither of which has a marks requirement. Study Material and Device Support for government-institution students (not government-aided) with 90%+ in Class 12 (plus 80% in UG if you are past first year of UG or applying for PG, and 75% in PG if you are past first year of PG). And Emergency Assistance — one-time help if you are in college and your earning parent has died or been diagnosed with a critical illness in the last 180 days (70% in Class 12 for UG, or 60% in graduation for PG).
We pay our scholarship and grant money directly to your institution, never as cash to you or your family. For the Merit Scholarship, the Education Continuity Grant, coaching and vocational training, we fund part of your fees rather than all of them — between 50% and 75%. The one exception is the Care Leaver Scholarship, which pays in full. This is on purpose: it keeps the support fair and lasting, and it keeps you a partner in your own education rather than only a recipient. Browse everything we offer on the All Programmes page.
You do not need to gather a pile of documents to begin. Fill in the short online form on the How to Apply page — about 4 to 5 minutes, details only, with no document upload — or simply talk to us.
Message us on WhatsApp, or call the same number, and tell us a little about your situation. We will listen, explain honestly what you can apply for, and walk you through the rest. If some of your documents are missing, that is never a reason not to reach out — we will help you sort them out. For a full orphan, the key papers are the death certificates of both parents and an orphan certificate from the DCPU, the District Collector or your CCI Superintendent. See the full process on the How to Apply page.
Vedicology Foundation never charges any application fee, processing fee, registration fee, or documentation fee. Applying is free, at every stage. If anyone asks you for money in our name, please report it to us.
It costs nothing to ask. Talk to us and we will tell you honestly what you can apply for.
