- The number of eligible candidates among the top 500 BITSAT rankers who joined BITS Pilani increased by 50 per cent in 2026
The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani will offer full tuition scholarships to candidates securing a rank among the top 1,000 in its entrance examination, BITSAT from 2027. The scholarship will be available to students whose annual family income does not exceed Rs 20 lakh, BITS Pilani Group Vice-Chancellor V Ramgopal Rao said.
The scholarship will cover the entire tuition fee for all four years of the undergraduate programme, subject to students maintaining a minimum CGPA of 7.5 at their respective campuses.
BITSAT is a computer-based entrance examination for admission to the institute’s integrated first-degree programmes, including BE, MSc and BPharma, across its campuses.
“The scholarship is built into the admission offer, and students do not need to apply for it after joining. This allows top performers to choose BITS Pilani based on aspiration and opportunity, not affordability,” Rao said.
Highlighting the impact of the institute’s scholarship initiative, Rao said the number of eligible candidates among the top 500 BITSAT rankers who joined BITS Pilani increased by 50 per cent in 2026. The BITSAT score required to secure a place in this group also rose from 314 to 324.
The impact, he added, extended beyond the beneficiaries. The number of students ranked between 501 and 1,000, who were not covered under the earlier initiative, also increased, taking the overall growth in enrolment among the top 1,000 rankers to 50 per cent.
In the academic year 2025-26, BITS Pilani disbursed around Rs 190 crore through scholarships, fee waivers and fellowships across its First Degree, Higher Degree and PhD Programmes. Of this, Rs 101 crore was allocated to undergraduate students through merit-based, merit-cum-need and international student scholarships. The institute said one in every four undergraduate students across its campuses received financial assistance.
Moreover, BITS Pilani has redesigned its undergraduate curriculum to prepare students for the artificial intelligence era, with a greater focus on academic flexibility and the integration of research, industry exposure and student well-being.
Rao, a former director of IIT Delhi, said the revised curriculum moves beyond the traditional classroom-based learning model, allowing students to explore multiple disciplines while pursuing their academic interests. The changes aim to strengthen interdisciplinary learning and equip graduates with skills relevant to the evolving demands of the workplace.
