Indian teen, Adarsh Kumar, who left home with $10, wins $100,000 Chegg.org Global Student Prize

Adarsh Kumar, an 18-year-old student and social innovator from Champaran, Bihar, has won the Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2025, a $100,000 award that recognizes students making a meaningful impact on learning, their peers, and society.

Launched in 2021 with the Varkey Foundation, the prize is considered the “student counterpart” to the Global Teacher Prize and is open to young people around the world. This year, Adarsh was chosen from nearly 11,000 applications across 148 countries, becoming one of the youngest winners to date.

Raised by a single mother who cleaned homes to pay for his education, Adarsh grew up with unreliable electricity and little internet access. When his mother spent her savings on a laptop, he used it to teach himself coding, entrepreneurship, and start-up skills. By 13, he co-founded Mission Badlao, a community initiative that secured land for a government school, distributed 2,000+ COVID-19 vaccinations, provided menstrual health products, and planted 3,000 trees.

At 14, with just ₹1,000 in hand, he left home for Kota to pursue IIT coaching. Unable to afford classes, he studied in libraries, emailed mentors, and gained experience through internships. These efforts inspired Skillzo, a platform he launched in 2023 to provide mentorship and entrepreneurship training to underserved students. In just over two years, Skillzo has reached 20,000 learners, helping many win scholarships and launch ventures.

Adarsh’s determination also earned him a ₹30 lakh scholarship to Jayshree Periwal International School in Rajasthan. Today, he serves as CMO of Bihar Chhatra Sansad, has engaged 1,500 youth in governance, and is the youngest Google Youth Advisor. With the prize money, he plans to expand Skillzo into an AI-powered mentorship platform and launch the Ignite Fellowship for student changemakers worldwide.