Before contacting Graduate Awards staff directly, please:
- review the answers to the following Frequently Asked Questions
- review the information provided on the Graduate Awards website.
Awards FAQ
Yes, provided you are registered full-time in your program. Award funding will be applied against your tuition and student fees; any remaining funds will be held for you until you are able to set up a Canadian bank account.
Yes, provided you are registered full-time in one of the eligible graduate programs (i.e., research-oriented Master’s and doctoral programs). Please note that the International Tuition Award will be automatically assigned to eligible students in August.
Please do not accept the International Tuition Award offer in your SSC account if you are planning to defer your admission to UBC. Please leave the award status as 'offered'. The Graduate Awards department will adjust your award offer in the system to reflect your new start date, once your deferral request is processed by the relevant units.
No, in most cases you can apply for award funding before you have acceptance to UBC. Please refer to the individual award’s webpage for specific eligibility requirements.
Award funding is paid via Student Service Centre (SSC).
SSC award offers are accepted online via the SSC (notifications of award offers will be sent to you by email). SSC award payments are first applied against any outstanding fees. If the amount of the award is greater than the outstanding fees in any term, the surplus funds are paid to the student through Electronic Funds Transfer. An email confirming the funds transfer will be sent to the student. Detailed information about accepting and receiving payments via the Student Service Centre is available on the Grad Awards website and in the Notice of Award generated when you accept the award offer on the SSC.
For the Winter session (September to April), awards are normally assigned by the end of August and pay out in early September and early January. For the Summer session (May to August), awards are normally assigned by the end of April and pay out in early May. Please note that once the award payment status changes from pending to paid, it will be several days before the funds appear in your bank account (for direct deposit payments). Please allow for this processing time before contacting Graduate Awards staff (see below) about an award that you are expecting.
Tuition awards (ex. International Tuition Awards, 4YF Tuition Award, AGF Tuition Award) only help cover tuition costs. They do not cover the additional fees that students are charged each term (ex. UPass, Medical). Your tuition award will therefore not cover you entire fees for the term; it will help with the tuition portion. Note: tuition awards are capped at the standard tuition rate for the degree level.
Annual funding (ex. International Tuition Awards, CGSM, 4YF, AGF) is assigned as a 2/3 installment in August (early September and early January payment dates) and a 1/3 assigned installment in April (early May payment date), provided the student remains eligible.
If you have an award with a value of $0 (ex. 4YF) offered to you, please accept it on the SSC so that the fellowship will be listed on your UBC transcript.
The International Tuition Awards is assigned to all eligible registered students about 2 weeks before the term begins. If you were not registered for courses at that time, you are not assigned the award. Please register for courses as soon as possible and contact Graduate Awards to request that you be assigned the International Tuition Award.
Yes, you may accept an award if you do not have a Social Insurance Number or Individual Tax Number yet. You will need to apply for one of these once you are in Canada. Students eligible for the Social Insurance Number, should apply for it; those ineligible for the Social Insurance Number, should apply for the Individual Tax Number instead.
SSC award payments are first applied against any outstanding tuition and student fees; please review your SSC financial account to determine if you have a positive balance (a refund will be issued to you) or a negative balance (you need to pay the balance by the due date) after your award payments have been applied. Please note that tuition awards do not cover student fees.
Note: Typically award funds are applied to your account at the beginning of each term. For example, if you accept an award offer in early August that lists the first installment as the beginning of September, you will not see the award funds applied to your September term fees (reducing your total fees owed) until the beginning of September.
We cannot assign or activate any award funding until you are registered as a full-time graduate student for the funding period. If you register a week before the term start date or later, please contact Graduate Awards so we will know to proceed with setting up your awards.
The Graduate Awards website lists many upcoming funding opportunities. Each entry provides key information about the funding opportunity, including the application deadline and info about how to apply. We also provide additional resources for award applicants, including links to other funding databases.
Bursaries, loans, and other needs-based funding are managed by Enrollment Services. Please visit the Enrolment Services website for contact information.
If your questions have not been answered by this FAQ or by the Graduate Awards website, you are welcome to contact the Graduate Awards team. When sending an email, please include your name, student number and details about the award you have questions about (award name and/or number).
Please note that the period of August - October is particularly busy for the Graduate Awards team, and our response times may vary. We appreciate your patience.