Awards and Financial Aid

General Eligibility

1. Scholarship candidates will normally be required to have achieved a minimum overall academic average of 80% in the academic session or academic courses referred to in the terms and conditions of the scholarship.
2. Award candidates will normally be required to have achieved a minimum overall academic average of 75% in the academic session or academic courses referred to in the terms and conditions of the award.
3. Bursary candidates will normally be required to be in an acceptable academic standing in the academic session or academic courses referred to in the terms and conditions of the bursary.
4. The Student Awards and Financial Aid Office will hold supporting documentation and responses for unsuccessful applicants for a minimum period of twelve months. Supporting documentation and responses to successful applicants will be held in the appropriate award file. Applications and supporting documentation are the property of the Student Awards and Financial Aid Office.
5. If no qualified applicant is found for a particular award in any year, the University reserves the right to withhold the award and will notify the donor.
6. Normally, students may not receive the same scholarship/award more than once.
7. Where the advertised deadline falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline date is the preceding Friday.
8. Decisions made by Award Committees are final.

Payment of Awards

1. All awards are disbursed using the Student Administration System of the University.
2. The first charge against any award is to pay outstanding University fees. All awards are applied to student's accounts to ensure proper payment of tuition and incidental fees and other university-related fees. Normally, awards are paid only during terms in which the recipient is a registered full-time student.
3. Unless otherwise stated in the terms of reference of awards, eligibility for all awards is normally restricted to students who enroll for a full course load (minimum 2.5 units per term).
4. Normally a student may not hold more than one major University of Waterloo award in one academic year. Each Faculty will determine the value of a major UW award (e.g., the Faculty of Arts has determined that an award valued $500 is considered a major award).
5. Awards valued at more than one-term tuition will normally be paid in two term instalments.
6. If a student withdraws or otherwise fails to complete the term(s) covered by an award, the award may be cancelled, or in some cases may be pro-rated.
7. Awards based on donations from external sources cannot be guaranteed by the University and can be applied to the student's account only after funds have been received from the donor.
8. Awards provided from external sources which cover an academic year will be paid in two equal instalments, unless otherwise stated by the donor.
9. The value of awards financed by endowed funds may vary each year depending on investment interest rates and may be withheld completely.
10. All awards, scholarships, and bursaries are considered to be income for OSAP and UW Bursary programs.