Thanks to the generosity of donors and faculties, UBC is able to offer many awards to undergraduate students. Departments will help adjudicate/recommend over 900 awards annually.
"Awards" refers to awards, scholarships and bursaries. All awards are funded by annual gift, endowment or department funds. The availability of award varies year to year and Enrolment Services will communicate with departments on award funding availability four times a year.
For definition of the three award categories and a range of award related terminology, visit the Senate Regulations page. We highly recommend reading the Senate Regulations page.
Recommended Awards FAQ
Recommended Award Cycles
Student Eligibility Check
Evaluating Student Need
CO-OP Students
Students in Exchange Abroad
Award Credit Requirement Exception
Graduating Awards
Awards for Graduate Level Students
Grants for Visiting International Research Students (VIRS)
How to Submit Recommendation
One-Time Awards from Department Funds
Award Funding Disbursement to Student
There are two “cycles” per winter session for recommended awards: pre-academic session and post-academic session.
-
Pre-academic session cycle refers to awards that are typically given out prior to or in the first few months of the winter session. Adjudication is based on grades from the previous session (ie. 2023W awards are based on grades from 2022W). Ideally, the awards are adjudicated prior to the tuition fee deadline of term 1.
-
Post-academic session cycle awards are adjudicated upon completion of the current academic session. Adjudication is based on grades from the current academic session (23W awards are based on grades from 23W).
Enrolment Services will notify departments per schedule below on the availability of awards and its budget. Upon notification, the faculty’s scholarship committee is responsible for submitting recommendations to Enrolment Services for processing.
Notification Schedule for 23W:
- Initial notification of pre-academic cycle awards: August 2023
- First reminder of remaining pre-academic cycle award budgets: December 2023
- Second reminder of remaining pre-academic cycle award budgets: February 2024
- Initial notification of post-academic cycle awards: April 2024
- Reminder of remaining budgets for all awards: June 2024
- Final reminder of remaining budgets for all awards before award cycle is closed. This includes awards for student graduating in November: December 2024
Link to Senate regulations on awards
Example of non-academic merits are leadership, community involvement, participation in varsity athletics, financial need etc.
If a recommended student does not follow Senate regulations, please indicate on the award recommendation form why this student should still receive the award as the best available candidate.
Students who do not meet the award eligibility criteria due to dropping courses or withdrawing from school may have their award reduced or cancelled, unless an academic appeal is granted. Please have student contact their Enrolment Service Advisor (ESA) for further details on the academic appeal process.
Departments may choose to refer to Student Aid BC's moderate standard of living cost (MSOL) table when evaluating student's submitted financial need. Note the MSOL table is different based on study period and dependent status.
Awards specifically for supporting student participating in CO-OP in current session (23W):
- 100% of the award can be paid out during the CO-OP term.
- No credit or sessional average requirements
Awards not related to participation in CO-OP, but the recommended student will be on CO-OP in current session (23W):
- Full time CO-OP students in 23W will have 100% of their award deferred to the following academic year (24W)
- Single term CO-OP students can receive 100% of their award if they are registered in 12 or more non CO-OP credits in the current academic session (23W). (for example: CO-OP in T1, 12 credits in T2)
- Indicate on award recommendation form of student's CO-OP status
Scholarship eligibility in the current academic session (23W) will be conditional on their credit load in the previous session (22W):
- Full time CO-OP in previous session (22W):
- Academic Merit Based Awards: ineligible for awards in current session (23W). Student will not have any GPA or registration in non CO-OP credits to be evaluated on against peers in same academic session.
- Non-academic awards: eligible for awards not evaluated on academic merit in the current session (23W). As GPA or academic achievement is not a criteria, student can still be evaluated against other students on non-academic merits such as leadership, community service or financial need.
- Part time CO-OP in previous session (22W) - is eligible for scholarship or other academic merit based award in current session (23W), but will be limited to receive up to 50% of the award value ONLY if student was in at least 12 non CO-OP credits in prior session (22W). For example:
- Student A participated in 2022W Term 1 CO-OP, Term 2 registered for 12 credits. Student is chosen for an academic scholarship in 23W with a value of $1000. He can be assigned $500 and remaining $500 can go to another student or be rolled forward to the next session.
Participation in exchange experiences abroad in current session (23W) will affect award payout as follows:
- Registered in EXCH in both terms: 100% of award deferred to payout contingent on registration in next winter session (24W)
- Registered in EXCH in term 1 and minimum 12 UBC credits in term 2: can receive 100% of the award in the term they're registered in credit-based courses (23W)
- Registered in term 1 EXCH and term 2 COOP: 100% of award to payout during exchange term (23W)
Eligibility of awards in following session after participation in exchange:
- Grades earned while on exchange should only be used to evaluate against other students if official transcript was submitted and UBC equivalent credits & grades are awarded to student. If 24 credits or more from school abroad are recognized as UBC credits, then student is eligible for scholarship or academic based award.
- One term of non credit exchange and minimum 12 UBC credits in term 2 will allow student to earn 50% of a scholarship's total value
- Eligibility for non-academic or need based award not affected
Award Credit Requirement Exceptions
Graduating Students
Students in their graduating year registered in less than 24 credits are still eligible to obtain/retain merit based scholarships and prizes. Please indicate this on the award recommendation form to avoid delay in award assignment.
Varsity Athletes
UBC varsity athletes can earn scholarships by taking a minimum of 18 credits, with letter of confirmation from Athletics of commitment to varsity team.
Award Appeal Due to Extenuating Circumstances
Students must submit supporting documentation to their ESA for confirmation of inability to meet the minimum requirements under Senate Regulations. Successful award appeal will allow student to retain their recommended award.
Definition: awards that are recommended to graduating students, to recognize their career at UBC
As there is a very small timeframe between end of winter session and the graduation ceremonies in May, take note of the following when submitting recommendation for post-academic session awards
-
Submit your grades to SISC as soon as possible
-
We cannot assign graduating award to student with pending grades
-
May 11, 2024: Deadline for submission of graduating awards to be printed in the 2024 Spring Convocation Guide. Late submissions will not be printed in the Convocation Guide
Departments responsible for each medal will be contacted before deadline. Students will not receive their medals during the convocation ceremony due to time needed to engrave the medals. Enrolment Services will contact winners to arrange for delivery.
Student do not have to be returning to studies the following year to receive a post-academic session prize. They must have been enrolled in 24 credits in the current session to receive a graduating prize, unless student needs less than 24 credits to graduate.
Awards for Graduate Level Students
Refer to: Awards and Scholarships for Graduate and Postdoc Studies for further information.
Visiting International Research Student Grant (VIRS)
Inquire with Go Global VIRS advisors at go.global@ubc.ca first before sending award recommendations to the awards team for processing. More info on the VIRS program can be found on the Go Global website here: https://global.ubc.ca/go-global/coming-ubc-study-abroad/visiting-international-research-students-virs/frequently-asked.
Award recommendations can be emailed to award.recommend@ubc.ca for processing using the form below. Please allow up to 10 business days for processing.
Instructions on how to use the assignment form.
When emailing award.recommend@ubc.ca, please include the following:
-
Subject line: session and ORG code
-
Award assignment excel file. A signature is necessary if the recommendation is not submitted by someone on the awards committee.
-
Specific instructions not found on the award assignment excel file that will help with processing, espcially if funding transfers are needed to fund the award.
One-Time Awards from Department Funds
If you have one-time department funding to disperse to undergraduate students as awards, please download the instructions here and attach it to your award request email to award.recommend@ubc.ca for processing. It may take up to 5 business days to process your request.
Once an award recommendation passes restrictions check and is offered to a student, an email offer will be sent. Students must log onto their SSC to accept or decline the award. Award offers not actioned on by student after three reminder emails will be cancelled. Award funding is first paid against their tuition owing, then excess is refunded via direct deposit. Funds are dispersed within 3-5 business days of student accepting the award, not when the award recommendation is submitted to Enrolment Services. Students without direct deposit set up in SSC will have the award funding deposited back to their student tuition account as a credit towards future study. Enrolment Services highly encourage all students to sign up for direct deposit. Instructions can be found here.