The Institute is fully residential and hostel accommodation is provided to all students. Permission to become day-scholar may be granted only under exceptional circumstances where student’s parents or close relatives are residents of Pilani. There are eleven hostels for boys and one hostel complex for girls. The hostel rooms are fully furnished. Common room facilities with Cable TV and telephone are available in each hostel. Internet connectivity has been provided in all hostel rooms. Solar water heating systems are provided in all the hostels.

There is a common kitchen cum mess unit for every set of two boys’ hostels. Girls’ hostel, however, has a separate mess of its own, situated within the boundary of the hostel. It is mandatory for the students staying in the hostel to have their food in the Hostel Messes. The messes attached to hostels are fully managed by the students.

A large number of scholarships, fellowships and other financial assistance are available to the students of the institute.

Institute Merit and Merit-cum-Need Scholarships
Students admitted to Integrated First Degree Programmes are eligible to receive these awards. The merit awards cover reimbursement of full semester fees and admission fees for top ten students of each batch, and 50% or 25% semester and admission fees for those selected for Merit-Cum-Need awards. In favor of the merit awards, students are automatically considered, and students desirous of being considered for the merit-cum-need awards need to apply each semester in response to the concerned notice. On an average, these awards benefit a little over 20% of the students. All awards are made for one semester only, and their continuance in the subsequent semester depends upon the candidate’s performance in the institute.

Student Aid Fund
Some financial assistance may also be obtained from this fund. These awards are made normally in the second semester only. Students have to apply for this assistance in response to a notice.

Other Scholarships & Aids
Student Welfare Division also forwards applications from students for scholarship/ financial aid to external agencies. The Division, in case of special need, tries its best to help the students, by all possible means.

EWYLP
Various schemes operate under the Earn While You Learn Programme (EWYLP) from which financial assistance is available. These include magazine distribution, service in supermarket ‘Akshay’ or in the library. EWYLP operates through Community Welfare Unit.

Professional Assistantship
Some students are selected as Professional Assistants each semester for laboratory work, office assistance etc. The selection and operation of the assistantship is done through Instruction Division.

Student Welfare Division maintains the record of all student dues. While tuition and other fees are to be paid before the beginning of each semester, mess, electricity and other departmental dues are to be regularly paid from 15th to 25th of each month. Monthly dues are displayed on the SWD notice board as well as on the SWD website, and are intimated by e-mail. Payment of tuition and other fees, payable at registration time, is possible before registration day by Demand Drafts on United Commercial Bank (code- 0150), Vidya Vihar Branch, Pilani or State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (code-1398), Pilani. Cheques drawn on any of these two banks can be used to pay mess and other monthly dues. When dues are paid through cheques of local banks, the payment shall be valid subject to realization of the cheque. Withdrawal forms of UCO Bank, Vidya Vihar or State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, BITS Extn, can also be used for the payment purpose. Students, who fail to pay their dues by the announced dates, shall be required to pay at the time of next registration, an additional advance as per rules.

Games and sports are organized through the Sports Club. The Institute has on its rolls Physical Director, Senior Coach, Life Saver (both male & female), Martial Art Instructor and other supporting staff. Facilities for the following games and sports are available: Football, Hockey, Cricket, Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis, Athletics, Gymnastics, Health Club, Swimming, Water Polo, Weight lifting etc. Besides organizing routine activities in above-mentioned sports, the Sports Club also conducts the BITS Open Sports Meet (BOSM) in the First Semester every year in which several outstation teams participate.

Health club is equipped with advanced exercising machines for weight training and aerobic exercise floor. A 25 x 12.5 m swimming pool provides facility for learning swimming, playing water polo and racing. Students can become members of Swimming Club/Health Club on payment of prescribed fees.

Each hostel also has facility for volleyball, table tennis, badminton, chess, carom, etc.

While the actual management of student activities is the responsibility of the Union & other bodies, the Division provides necessary support. The Students’ Union operates various clubs, including Music, Dance, Hindi Drama, English Drama, Hindi Press, English Press, Creative Activities, Mime, Photography, and Poetry Clubs, English Language Activities Society, and Hindi Activities Society. There are also several departments, which help organize various student events.

Traditionally students organize OASIS, a cultural festival sometime during the days adjoining Dussehra or Diwali. The students also organize A Professions-Oriented Gathering over Educational Experience (APOGEE), an Academic Week during the Second Semester, which may be aptly described as the academic get-together of the University Youth.

A classical music circle called ‘Ragamalika’ aims at encouraging budding talent among the students in music and dance. It also arranges performances by leading artists in the field of classical music and dance. In addition there is also a BITS Pilani Chapter of SPIC-MACAY, which organizes programmes to promote Indian classical music and culture amongst youth.

BITS being an all-India Institute, there are also regional associations like Maurya Vihar, Sangam, Andhra Samiti, Tamil Mandram, Maharashtra Mandal, Moru Chhaya etc. conducting several special programmes on festivals.

Recreational Activity Forum (RAF) that comes under the Student Welfare Division regularly organizes film shows for the BITS community. Currently, RAF organizes twelve, English and Hindi movies each, through the semester.

Each hostel has Resident and Non-Resident Wardens drawn from the faculty whom students may approach for advice or assistance. Students may also contact Hostel Superintendents, who are provided with accommodation within the hostel, for any sort of help.

Every student is also assigned a Faculty Advisor/Mentor soon after the admission, who can be contacted for advices related to academics and other matters.

Students are also free to contact the Dean SWD directly in case of problems or if seeking advise.

Travel Concession
The Railways, Airlines, and some nationalized Roadways permit students to travel on ‘concessional’ fares provided they produce Travel Concession orders issued by the Institute. The office of the Student Welfare Division issues such concession orders for various kinds of journeys by rail, which include, traveling to home town & back during semester breaks or summer vacations, traveling to places of practical training or to a Practice School Station, and traveling on behalf of the Institute as a representative.

ID Card
Every student upon admission is issued an Identity card by SWD at the beginning of every academic session with validity up to the end of that session. In case of loss of ID card student should immediately inform to SWD office about the loss. Duplicate ID cards are issued on application along with the prescribed fees.
Health and swimming club also require separate ID cards, than the normal ID cards issued to the student, every academic year. These ID cards are also provided to the students, seeking membership to the desired club, by SWD.

Certificates/Attestations
Student Welfare Division provides Bonafide, residence proof, CGPA conversion, expenditure, etc certificates, to the students, on request. Also, students can get their various documents attested, at or by help of SWD.