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Financial Support

Western aims to provide each qualified Category I student offered admission into a program with sufficient financial resources to accept the offer. The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies awards student support based on the initial nomination of the student's graduate program. Application by the student is not required.

5.01 PROGRAM CATEGORIES

The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies distinguishes between Category I and Category II programs to determine the specific form of financial support for students.

• Qualified students in Category I programs have access to a financial support package, which may consist of a combination of program-based funding (e.g. from a supervisor's research program), scholarships from the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and income from employment (e.g. a Graduate Teaching Assistantship). This package is designed to cover a substantial portion of a student's expenses for the eligible period of funding in his/her program.
• Students in Category II Master's programs are expected to fund their own education. . The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies has a needs-based bursary program to assist full-time Category II students whose costs exceed their government loan.

5.02 MINIMUM ACADEMIC REQUIREMENT FOR SGPS FINANCIAL SUPPORT

To be eligible for SGPS Financial Support students must be registered full-time and meet the graduate program conditions for progression towards the degree.

5.03 ELIGIBILITY FOR SGPS FINANCIAL SUPPORT IS LIMITED TO THE NORMAL DURATION OF THE STUDENT'S PROGRAM

• The normal duration for Master's programs varies from two to six terms, depending on the program. Consult the program's regulations for details.
• Doctoral students are eligible for SGPS financial support for the first twelve terms of full-time registration.
• During their period of fundability, Doctoral students must apply for Tri-Council (NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR) and Ontario government awards (OGS/ST) for which they are eligible.
• Students who transfer from a Master's program to a Doctoral program are eligible for financial support during the first fifteen consecutive full-time terms of registration (this includes both programs).

5.04 A MINIMUM ANNUAL FINANCIAL PACKAGE FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS

Incoming Doctoral students and continuing Doctoral students who meet the usual eligibility criteria (see Sections 5.02 and 5.03 above), must have access to an annual financial package (i.e., three terms commencing with the initial term of admission) of at least the annual cost of full-time tuition (Office of the Registrar - Fees & Refunds) plus $12,000., with the following caveats:

• The financial package can come from a variety of sources and can differ from student to student. These sources include: supervisor research grant support; external scholarship support (SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR, OGS, OGSST, etc.); Graduate Teaching Assistantships; internal scholarship support (Western Graduate Research Scholarships, program-based scholarships, endowments, etc); and employment other than GTAships (ten hour rule applies). Students in receipt of external scholarship or other income that brings their package above the level of tuition + $12,000, (i.e., $18,511 for a Domestic student, $27,359 for an international student effective May 1, 2012 - April 30, 2013) may see a reduction in their support from on-campus sources according to their programs practice.
• OSAP is excluded in the calculation of the financial package.
• The student may decline all or part of the package without prejudice to his/her admission. Where the student declines part of the package, the program must submit a written statement to SGPS, signed by the student, documenting the adequacy of the student's financial resources for the length of the program and acknowledging the University has met its obligations.

5.05 EXTERNAL SCHOLARSHIPS ON TRANSCRIPTS

Effective September 1, 2008, external scholarships were officially added to the Western transcript.
 
To ensure accuracy of the Western transcript, the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS) will include external scholarships on the transcript when the adjudication and payment is managed by SGPS.

• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship – NSERC
• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship – SSHRC
• Julie Payette-NSERC Research Scholarship
• NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral
• NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master's
• NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship - Doctoral
• NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship - Master's
• NSERC Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship
• SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral
• SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master's
• SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology  (Effective May 1, 2011 this will become the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology)

5.06 COMPLETION OF THE STUDENT'S PROGRAM

• When the student completes his/her program (or withdraws without completing) while receiving SGPS financial support, this support may be subject to repayment or pro-rating for the remainder of the term (consult the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for further details).

The University of Western Ontario and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies reserves the right to modify and/or discontinue the SGPS financial support packages. The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website provides complete information on Financial Support available at The University of Western Ontario.