Domestic Supplementary Bursary

The Domestic Supplementary Bursary program provides funding for domestic undergraduate and graduate students who demonstrate a financial shortfall for the current school year's academic and basic living costs. To be eligible, you must be able to demonstrate financial need for the current academic year after exhausting all available funding resources while meeting the academic and enrolment requirements.

Funding for the Supplementary Bursary program is provided by donors, the Students' Union Access Fund and the University of Alberta. Bursaries, unlike loans, do not have to be repaid.

If your program requires you to be enrolled in courses during the Spring and/or Summer Terms as part of its standard structure, and you would like these terms considered in your bursary assessment, you must submit a Request for Reassessment by April 30.

If you are taking Spring and/or Summer courses by choice — for example, to get ahead, catch up on a failed course or meet prerequisites earlier than scheduled — these terms are not considered part of your program’s standard structure. In those cases, Spring/Summer enrolment will not be included in your bursary assessment, and reassessment requests will not be approved.

Any questions about the bursary or application can be sent to bursaries@ualberta.ca.

---

Applications and Timelines

Applications for the Domestic Supplementary Bursary are available online in the Application for Financial Support portal. You can apply in either the Fall or Winter term as long as you show current registration in the same term. 

Supplementary Bursary funds will be applied to student accounts beginning in December. If you are facing a financial emergency before December, please explore our Emergency Loan application or our Indigenous Student Support Fund application if you are an FNMI student.

During high volume times, assessment of your bursary application can take up to 8-10 weeks from your application submission date. Notifications of the progress of your application will be sent to your University of Alberta email address and estimated processing times will be posted to the Application for Financial Support portal.

---

Eligibility

• You must be a domestic (Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident or Refugee/Protected Person) undergraduate or graduate student in any year of study and currently be attending classes at the University of Alberta at the time of your application.
  • Undergraduate students
    Students with either full-time or part-time enrolment in any term within the current academic year are eligible to apply. Only terms with registration will be considered for the bursary assessment.
  • Graduate students
    Students with full-time enrolment in either the Fall or Winter term within the current academic year are eligible to apply. If you are registered part-time in both Fall and Winter terms, you are not eligible to apply.
    Note: If you are a part-time graduate student in all terms of study within an academic year, you can submit the Supplementary Bursary application, however, you will only be considered for the GSA Emergency Bursary portion of the application.
• You must be in satisfactory academic standing based on your most recent term grades.
• You must be eligible for and receive the maximum available government student loans for the terms that you are applying for. 
  • If you are ineligible for student loans for any reason, you will also be ineligible for the bursary program. 
  • Students providing documentation of First Nations, Métis or Inuit identity are not required to apply for government student loans.
• You must provide documentation of all financial resources available to you. This includes (but is not limited to) bank statements for all accounts in your name, scholarships, department funding, investment accounts, family support, spousal income (if applicable) and band funding (if applicable). 
• You must demonstrate a financial shortfall for academic and basic living costs for the current academic year as determined by the bursary common assessment.
• You must not have exceeded the program limits for the program(s) in which you have attended the University of Alberta. Funding limits cannot be extended or appealed and eligibility for bursary funding does not confirm you will receive the program limit.
  • The program limits (by program type) are as follows:
    • Non-Degree Program: $10,000
    • Undergraduate: $60,000
    • Masters: $30,000
    • Philosophical Doctorate: $60,000
  • Differential Annual limits apply to all Supplementary Bursary funding.

Supplementary bursary funding is intended to assist in addressing a calculated financial shortfall based on academic costs and basic living expenses for the current academic school year. Eligibility for bursary funding does not guarantee that you will receive the maximum yearly or program limits, or funding to cover all eligible expenses.

Receiving Bursary Funding

If you receive a notification of bursary funding, you will need to accept the offer in the Financials panel of Bear Tracks. There will be a deadline to accept your bursary offer in the email notification, after which time it will be cancelled.

Bursary funding will first be applied to any outstanding tuition or fees you have on your account. Any remaining funds will be refunded to you by e-Transfer via PayMyTuition. For more information on the processing times for refunds, please visit the Refunds and Withdrawals web page.

Notifying your student loan provider

Some students may need to notify their government student loan provider if they receive a bursary.

Alberta Student Loan Recipients

You are not required to notify Alberta Student Aid of any bursary awards you receive.

Out-of-Province Student Loan Recipients

If you hold out-of-province government student loans for the current year, you must notify your provincial student loan provider to declare a change of income. When declaring your change of income, describe your bursary as "scholarship income." For more information or assistance, please contact the Student Service Centre.

---

Requesting a Reassessment

If there has been an additional substantial change in your financial situation or registration since your bursary was assessed, you may request a reassessment to include this information. Failure to provide previously requested documentation in your original application is not grounds for a reassessment, and additional funding is not guaranteed.

To request a reassessment, email bursaries@ualberta.ca using the subject "Request for Bursary Reassessment." You must include a letter outlining the change in your circumstances and documentation that supports this change.

Requests for reassessment will only be accepted between December 1 and April 30.

---

Bursaries 101

Are you a domestic student interested in bursaries? In this video, hear from one of our experts on what bursaries are, eligibility requirements, filling out the application, next steps after you apply and more!