Awards and Financial Aid

General Eligibility

1. Scholarship candidates will normally be required to have achieved a minimum overall cumulative average of 80% in the academic term 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 cumulative average of 75% in the academic term or academic courses referred to in the terms and conditions of the award.
3. Bursary candidates will normally be required to be in satisfactory academic standing in the academic term or academic courses referred to in the terms and conditions of the bursary.
4. Applications and supporting documentation are the property of Student Awards and Financial Aid. Retention of these records will be in accordance with the University's policies and guidelines on records management.
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. Unless otherwise stated in the award terms, eligibility for awards is normally restricted to students who enrol in a full course load.
8. 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 award.
9. Decisions made by award committees are final.

Payment of Awards

1. All awards are disbursed through the student's Quest account.
2. The first charge against any award is to pay outstanding University fees including tuition, 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. Awards valued at more than one-term tuition will normally be paid in two term instalments.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Awards provided from external sources which cover an academic year will be paid in two equal instalments, unless otherwise stated by the donor.
7. The value of awards financed by endowed funds may vary each year depending on investment interest rates and may be withheld completely.
8. All awards, scholarships, and bursaries are considered income for OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) and University of Waterloo bursary program purposes.