Minimum scholarship course load requirements

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The following regulations, as approved by the University of British Columbia Senate, govern all awards over which the University has jurisdiction. View the complete Senate regulations governing university awards.

Requirements to Retain a Scholarship

To retain an undergraduate scholarship and other academic awards, students normally are expected to be registered in 24 credits for the Winter Session (September – April) in which the scholarship and/or academic award is being awarded.

Students registered in fewer than 24 credits in their final year of study may retain a scholarship and/or be eligible for a prize or other year-end award if their faculty or school confirms this number of credits is sufficient for graduation. In this case, a scholarship may be presented.

A recipient of an award may retain the honour of an award but resign the monetary value. Any funds thus made available will be used for additional awards.

Unless otherwise stated, awards are tenable only at UBC and are open to students studying in the Winter Session (September – April) only.

Scholarships and other academic awards awarded for achievement in a specific faculty or discipline, or intended for students studying in a particular program are normally conditional upon the recipient continuing studies in the same discipline or program during the following year. A program change to an ineligible faculty or discipline will usually result in reassignment of the award to another student.

Requirements to retain a bursary

Bursaries are awarded on the basis of financial need, in accordance with Policy LR10, Access to the University of British Columbia.
To retain a bursary, students must be registered in at least 60% of a full-time course load and must continue to be eligible for their government student loan. Check our course load requirement for student loans and grants.

Eligibility for future scholarships

Scholarships, prizes, or other academic awards will normally be made only to an undergraduate student if the student is registered in at least 24 percentage-graded credits, standing in the top 10% of their year and faculty or with an average of 75% or higher (with no failed courses) in the academic session on which the award adjudication is based.

Scholarship standing or eligibility for students taking more than 24 credits will be determined based on the best 24 percentage-graded credits. Marks obtained in the Summer Session do not count toward scholarship standing.

Unless otherwise stated, awards are tenable only at UBC and are open to students studying in the Winter Session (September – April) only. Marks obtained in Summer Session courses are not taken into account.

Scholarships and other academic awards awarded for achievement in a specific faculty or discipline, or intended for students studying in a particular program, are normally conditional upon the recipient continuing studies in the same discipline or program during the following year. A program change to an ineligible faculty or discipline will usually result in reassignment of the award to another student.

Award deferrals

Continuing UBC students

Students who have completed at least one year of study at the University may be eligible to defer scholarships, hybrid awards, or other merit-based student awards for up to one year, provided they show satisfactory reasons for postponing attendance. Requests for deferment must be made to Enrolment Services. Students wishing to take up a deferred student award must advise Enrolment Services in writing before the first day of the Winter Session, as defined in the Academic Calendar, in which they intend to take up the student award, or such other date identified to the student at the time of or prior to the deferral of the student award.

Entering students

Students who have been granted deferred admission will automatically have any scholarships, hybrid awards or other merit- based student awards deferred until they begin their study at the University unless the student is otherwise notified at the time the student award is offered or at the time the deferral of admission is granted.

In order to receive a deferred student award, students who are granted permission to defer their admission and therefore their student award, will have to satisfy any conditions of admission imposed at the time of admission, must apply to take up the deferred offer by the application deadline of the following year, and must register in the program and at the campus to which they were admitted.

Please review the complete Senate regulations governing university awards.

Regulations governing graduate awards

Student awards offered to graduate students, unless otherwise approved by Senate, are available only to support students engaged in full-time study and/or research leading to a degree at the University and will normally be paid only if the recipient is registered as a full-time student at the University during the payment period.

In cases where students are offered both major University graduate fellowship or scholarship funding and funding from a source external to the University for full-time study and research at UBC, the value of the University fellowship or scholarship funding will be adjusted as follows: if the value of the external award funding is less than the value of the University fellowship or scholarship funding, the student will receive the difference between the major University graduate fellowship or scholarship and external award funding. If the value of the external award funding is greater than or equal to the value of the University fellowship or scholarship funding, the University fellowship or scholarship funding may be withheld, or the amount may be adjusted. This provision is not intended to limit a student’s ability to receive multiple awards from the University. The criteria by which graduate student awards are identified as major awards shall be determined by the College of Graduate Studies.

Please review the complete Senate regulations governing university awards.