New Delhi, October 8, 2026: Ashoka University has received two honours at the 12th FICCI Higher Education Excellence Awards 2026, securing the awards for Excellence in Financial Sustainability & Student Access and Excellence in Globalisation. Vice Chancellor Rishikesha T. Krishnan was also named FICCI Personality of the Year 2026 for his contributions to higher education, institutional leadership and innovation.
The awards ceremony, held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, recognised Ashoka University’s efforts in building a philanthropy-based, financially sustainable model to expand student access, as well as its research-led approach to global academic collaboration.
Financial sustainability and student access
The Excellence in Financial Sustainability & Student Access award acknowledged Ashoka University’s initiative ‘From Access to Achievement: Building a Financially Sustainable Ecosystem for Student Success’. Supported by over 200 founders and donors, the model combines merit and need-based scholarships to broaden access for students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. In FY 2025–26, the university disbursed over Rs. 100 crore in scholarships, with a total of Rs. 723 crore awarded to more than 5,400 students since inception. Outcomes include 394 students placed in top companies, 138 admitted to leading global universities, and 17 graduates winning 19 prestigious scholarships such as Inlaks, Gates Cambridge and Oxford in 2025–26.
Globalisation efforts recognised
The Excellence in Globalisation award was based on the Ashoka Global Research Alliances (AGRA), launched in 2024 to foster research-led global engagement across the humanities, sciences and social sciences. AGRA operates in 16 countries across five continents, involving faculty, PhD students, researchers and partner institutions. The university’s humanities ecosystem includes the Global Humanities Network (GHN) anchored at the University of Cambridge, the Global Humanities Alliance (GHA) where Ashoka is the only Indian founding institution, and the National Humanities Center (NHC), with Ashoka as the only international sponsor institution.
Through AGRA, 385 students have participated in international programmes at 63 partner universities across four continents, with 204 students receiving summer scholarships. The initiative has engaged 27 faculty across 16 countries and led to four Cambridge University Press contracts. AGRA also supports international research and cross-disciplinary collaboration through Erasmus+ partnerships with four European universities, a Franco-Indian Campus for Health in Life Sciences consortium involving over 60 institutions, and the Ashoka-ZEISS collaboration, which has trained 50 researchers in two cohorts. Ashoka University is set to host the GHN Summer Forum in 2027 and Summer School in 2028, marking the first time these programmes will be held in India.
Personality of the Year award for Vice Chancellor
Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan was recognised as FICCI Personality of the Year 2026 for his work in higher education, strategy, innovation and public policy. He has previously served as Director of IIM Indore and IIM Bangalore, contributed to national committees including the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee on India’s data protection framework, and has been listed on Thinkers50 India. His publications include ‘From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation: The Challenge for India’ and ‘8 Steps to Innovation: Going from Jugaad to Excellence’.
“I am grateful for this recognition, which is a testament to the collective efforts of the Ashoka community and the strong foundation that the University has built. As I begin my tenure, I see these recognitions as both an encouragement and a responsibility to carry this momentum forward,” said Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Vice-Chancellor, Ashoka University.
Previous recognition and university profile
This recognition follows Ashoka University being named ‘University of the Year – Emerging’ at the FICCI Higher Education Summit 2025, as the institution continues to expand its academic and research ambitions.
Founded in 2014 and based in Delhi NCR, Ashoka University is a non-profit institution established under the Haryana Private Universities Act (2006). It has over 3,000 students, 20+ Centres of Excellence, and a student body with more than 57% women, 4% international scholars, over 100 specially abled students, and more than 47% on scholarships.
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