What is the ruling on forging an academic certificate to obtain a scholarship, and what must one who has done so and regrets it do?

Falsifying documents to obtain a scholarship is forbidden and not permissible by Islamic law, due to Allah Almighty’s saying: "So avoid the word of falsehood," and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Beware, and (he repeated it) the false statement and false testimony." Falsehood is describing something contrary to its true nature, and it includes falsification and deception in documents and imitating signatures with the intent to deceive. Therefore, repentance is obligatory, and what was taken from the scholarship must be returned, unless the responsible authority permits otherwise. The money can be returned indirectly if disclosing it would harm the university, and it must be returned whenever one is able to do so.