Bengaluru: As many as 55,780 students will be awarded degrees by Bangalore University on its 53rd convocation on Thursday. The varsity will be awarding 112 gold medals, 268 cash prizes and conferring 158 PhDs to graduates.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, in-charge vice-chancellor V. Suresh said the university has spent about Rs. 4.8 lakh on the 79 gold medals to be awarded to first rank holders.

Girls continue the trend of outshining their male counterparts, with 48 of them bagging gold compared to 31 boys.

Sai Jyothi Sanmathi K.Y., a B Com student from VVS First Grade College for Women, has secured the highest number of cash prizes and medals — nine in all. She aspires to be a chartered accountant and is currently preparing for her CA exams.

Recently, the university was caught in a controversy when it had asked gold medalists to pay Rs 500 to compensate the cost of medals.