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Scholarships, Bursaries, and Awards

Awards enable students to focus on academic pursuits, rather than on financial concerns.

The University of British Columbia is one of only two Canadian universities to guarantee that no eligible domestic student is denied admission for financial reasons alone. Thanks to the support of our donors, awards help us keep this important commitment.

Types of Awards

Fellowships are prestigious awards, which enable students to concentrate full-time on their studies and research. These awards are usually given to students enrolled in programs at the Master’s or Doctoral level, and are granted on the basis of academic excellence and/ or research productivity. It is suggested that a minimum of $16,000 be made available for annual distribution, although some fellowships are established initially at the $10,000 level.

Scholarships are monetary awards that recognize academic achievement and assist recipients with the cost of continuing their education. These merit-based awards are granted to students in programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. By Senate regulation, scholarship recipients must be in the top 10% of their class or have obtained an average of 75% or higher.

Bursaries are monetary gifts provided to students to assist them with expenses incurred while pursuing an academic program. Financial need is the primary consideration in the selection for bursary recipients. UBC suggests that a minimum of $1,000 a year be available for distribution.

Prizes are awarded for academic excellence or achievement in a particular subject area. Prizes usually take the form of a monetary award valued at $2,000 or less, sometimes accompanied by a medal, plaque or certificate. Some prizes are granted to students only upon graduation.

Service Awards are monetary awards provided to both graduate and undergraduate students in good academic standing who have demonstrated excellence in a range of non-academic fields, such as community service, student leadership, volunteerism, and athletic or artistic performance. These awards are valued at $1,000 or greater.

A primary role of the Centre is to educate students and postdoctoral fellows who devote two-to-five years of full-time study and research to complete their programs. Graduate students require at least $16,000 per year for books, housing, clothing, food, tuition, etc. Scholarships play a key role in attracting and retaining outstanding scholars to the Centre. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to establish named awards or to donate to existing endowments under development, such as the John and Mary Young Memorial Scholarship, the James Shelford Memorial Scholarship or the Guy Fowler Bursary Fund.

To help meet our goal of attracting the very best and brightest students, we are working hard to develop endowment funds which provide sustained financial support for students and postdoctoral fellows performing research in support of primary agriculture.