Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions

The Terms and Condition of Graduate Funding for students in the Faculty of Arts & Science are appended to the annual funding letters provided to students in the funded cohort at the beginning of each academic year. The terms and conditions may vary from year to year in response to changes in the context in which graduate funding is provided or to improve clarity for students and administrators. The current 2021-22 Terms and Conditions of Graduate Funding are provided below, along with the terms and conditions for the coming academic year.

The Faculty of Arts & Science (A&S) establishes Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions for each academic year. The Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions are appended to the annual funding letter for each student in the funded cohort.

The Faculty of Arts & Science funding model requires that students fund their graduate education through academic awards, Teaching Assistant work and Research Assistant work. If a student’s income from these sources falls short of the A&S minimum level of financial support, University of Toronto Fellowship (UTF) funds will be used to bring the student’s package up to the minimum amount.

The A&S minimum level of financial support for 2023-24 is $20,000 for students in the Humanities and Social Sciences and $20,500 for students in the Sciences, plus tuition and fees. Total tuition and fees vary by legal status (domestic or international), program (master’s or PhD) and campus affiliation. St. George campus affiliation fees are used by default unless the student has either affiliated with UTM prior to the issuance of funding letters in September or formally switches campus affiliation and notifies the Graduate Administrator by October 31st.

Tuition and fees are announced annually in July prior to the start of the academic year. Individual student funding packages and their composition also change from year to year for a variety of reasons, including increases in the A&S minimum level financial support, fluctuations in graduate unit resources, the availability of TA and RA opportunities and any awards that students may obtain.

For 2023-24, the A&S Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions are:
  1. Students must be within the funded cohort to qualify for a Faculty of Arts & Science minimum financial support package.
    The definition of funded cohort varies across departments. UTF funds cannot be received by students outside the funded cohort. Students receiving 0.5 of a funding package are funded for the full academic year at 50%.
     
  2. For students in the funded cohort, funding typically commences in the first session of the first year of registration in the program. 
    Funding commences in the first year and session of registration unless program design dictates that funding starts in the second year for all students in the program. Funding packages cannot be deferred by the student until a subsequent year or session. In some rare cases, a two-year Master’s program may require that all students receive funding in the second year of the program, usually to enable students to meet specific language requirements in their first year.
     
  3. Students must be registered full time to receive the Faculty of Arts & Science minimum level of financial support.
    Students must be registered for a full 17-week session to qualify for funding for that session. If a student takes an approved leave of absence, the funding package will be revised to reflect the student’s enrolment status. This applies in the event of a retroactive leave of absence. Part-time and Flex-time students are not eligible to receive the A&S minimum financial support package.
     
  4. Students must be working full time on their program.
    It is recommended that students who take paid employment limit their hours of work to no more than 10 hours per week, on average, in all forms of employment, including TA, other employment at the university and employment outside the university, while receiving a funding package.
     
  5. Students must be in good academic standing.
    If academic standing is in question, the graduate unit will inform the student before funding will be withdrawn.
     
  6. Students must apply for and accept external awards.
    As a condition of funding, graduate students are required to apply for and accept external awards for which they are eligible. It is a great honour to receive a prestigious fellowship. Writing applications for such awards is part of academic training.
     
    External awards become a part of, or replace, the student’s funding package. Examples of major awards are SSHRC, NSERC, OGS and foreign government awards, such as the CONACyT or China Scholarship.
     
    Tuition and fees are typically deducted from the January and May instalments of external awards administered by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). Students with major awards that are included in the funding package, but paid directly by an external source, such as a foreign government, are required to pay their tuition and fees.
     
  7. Students must seek TA work, accept any TA work that is offered and advise the graduate unit of any TA work that is accepted.
    Income from TA work is a component of the A&S minimum financial support package for most students. Failure to apply for and accept TA work may result in the forfeiture of the TA component of the funding package, which is specified in the annual funding letter, unless the student has an award that exempts the student from the TA requirement.
     
    If a student’s TA income is below the $7,755.00 maximum prescribed by the Collective Agreement with CUPE 3902, Unit 1, at the time that the funding letter is issued, and the student subsequently receives additional TA hours, the funding package may be revised at the discretion of the graduate unit.

    To ensure that graduate units know how much work students take on, graduate students are required to disclose TA positions held across multiple departments and campuses to the Graduate Administrator.

    Students who are terminated from their TA position “with cause” will lose the TA component of the A&S minimum financial support package for the academic year to which it applied.
     

  8. Students in most graduate units must accept RA-ships or similar opportunities if they are offered as part of the funding package.
    The amount of RA income included in funding packages varies by department and may generate employment income or a stipend, depending on the nature of the opportunity and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) policy.

The Faculty of Arts & Science (A&S) establishes Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions for each academic year. The Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions are appended to the annual funding letter for each student in the funded cohort.

The Faculty of Arts & Science funding model requires that students fund their graduate education through academic awards, Teaching Assistant work and Research Assistant work.  If a student’s income from these sources falls short of the A&S Base Funding Package amount, University of Toronto Fellowship (UTF) funds will be used to bring the student’s package up to the A&S Base Package.

The A&S Base Funding Package for 2021-22 is $18,500 for students in the Humanities and Social Sciences and $19,000 for students in the Sciences, plus tuition and fees.  Total tuition and fees vary by legal status (domestic or international), program (international Master’s students pay a higher tuition fee) and campus affiliation. St. George campus affiliation fees are used by default, unless the student has either affiliated with UTM prior to the issuance of funding letters in September or formally switches campus affiliation and notifies the Graduate Administrator by October 31st.

Tuition and fees are announced annually in July prior to the academic year. Individual student funding packages and their composition also change from year to year for a variety of reasons, including increases in the base funding package, fluctuations in graduate unit resources, the availability of TA and RA opportunities and any awards that students may obtain.

For 2021-22, the A&S Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions are:

  1. Students must be within the funded cohort to qualify for a Faculty of Arts & Science base funding package.
    The definition of funded cohort varies across departments. UTF funds cannot be received by students outside the funded cohort. Students receiving 0.5 of a funding package are funded for the full academic year at 50%.
     
  2. For students in the funded cohort, funding typically commences in the first session of the first year of registration in the program.
    Funding commences in the first year and session of registration, unless program design dictates that funding starts in the second year for all students in the program. Funding packages cannot be deferred by the student until a subsequent year or session. In some rare cases, a two-year Master’s program may require that all students receive funding in the second year of the program, usually to enable students to meet specific language requirements in their first year.
     
  3. Students must be registered full time to receive a Faculty of Arts & Science Base Funding Package.
    Students must be registered for a full 17-week session to qualify for funding for that session. If a student takes an approved leave of absence, the funding package will be revised to reflect the student’s enrolment status. This applies in the event of a retroactive leave of absence. Part-time and Flex-time students are not eligible for a base funding package.
     
  4. Students must be working full time on their program.
    It is recommended that students who take paid employment limit their hours of work to no more than 10 hours per week, on average, in all forms of employment, including TA, other employment at the university and employment outside the university, while receiving a base funding package.
     
  5. Students must be in good academic standing.
    If academic standing is in question, the graduate unit will inform the student before funding will be withdrawn.
     
  6. Students must apply for and accept external awards.
    As a condition of funding, graduate students are required to apply for and accept external awards for which they are eligible. It is a great honour to receive a prestigious fellowship. Writing applications for such awards is part of academic training.
    External awards become a part of, or replace, the student’s funding package. Examples of major awards are SSHRC, NSERC, OGS and foreign government awards, such as the CONACyT or China Scholarship.
    Tuition and fees are typically deducted from the January and May instalments of external awards administered by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). Students with major awards that are included in the funding package, but paid directly by an external source, such as a foreign government, are required to pay their tuition and fees.
     
  7. Students must seek TA work, accept any TA work that is offered and advise the graduate unit of any TA work that is accepted.
    Income from TA work is a component of the A&S Base Funding Package for most students. Failure to apply for and accept TA work may result in the forfeiture of the TA component of the funding package, which is specified in the annual funding letter, unless the student has an award that exempts the student from the TA requirement.
     
    If a student’s TA income is below the $8,043.00 maximum prescribed by the Collective Agreement with CUPE 3902, Unit 1, at the time that the funding letter is issued, and the student subsequently receives additional TA hours, the funding package may be revised at the discretion of the graduate unit.
     
    To ensure that the graduate units knows how much work students take on, graduate students are required to disclose TA positions held across multiple departments and campuses to the Graduate Administrator.
     
    Students who are terminated from their TA position “with cause” will lose the TA component of the A&S Base Funding Package for the academic year to which it applied.
     
  8. Students in most graduate units must accept RA-ships or similar opportunities if they are offered as part of the funding package.
    The amount of RA income included in funding packages varies by department and may generate employment income or a stipend, depending on the nature of the opportunity and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) policy.

The Faculty of Arts & Science (A&S) establishes Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions for each academic year. The Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions are appended to the annual funding letter for each student in the funded cohort.

The Faculty of Arts & Science funding model requires that students fund their graduate education through academic awards, Teaching Assistant work and Research Assistant work.  If a student’s income from these sources falls short of the A&S Base Funding Package amount, University of Toronto Fellowship (UTF) funds will be provided to bring the student’s package up to the A&S Base Package.

The A&S Base Funding Package for 2022-23 is $19,000 for students in the Humanities and Social Sciences and $19,500 for students in the Sciences, plus tuition and fees.  Total tuition and fees vary by legal status (domestic or international), program (international Master’s students pay a higher tuition fee) and campus affiliation. St. George campus affiliation fees are used by default, unless the student has either affiliated with UTM prior to the issuance of funding letters in September or formally switches campus affiliation and notifies the Graduate Administrator by October 31st.

Tuition and fees are announced annually in July prior to the academic year. Individual student funding packages and their composition also change from year to year for a variety of reasons, including increases in the base funding package, fluctuations in graduate unit resources, the availability of TA and RA opportunities and any awards that students may obtain.

For 2022-23, the A&S Graduate Funding Terms and Conditions are:

  1. Students must be within the funded cohort to qualify for a Faculty of Arts & Science base funding package.
    The definition of funded cohort – that is which programs and years are funded - varies across departments. UTF funds cannot be received by students outside the funded cohort. Students receiving 0.5 of a funding package are funded for the full academic year at 50%.
     
  2. For students in the funded cohort, funding typically commences in the first session of the first year of registration in the program.
    Funding commences in the first year and session of registration, unless program design dictates that funding starts in the second year for all students in the program. Funding packages cannot be deferred by the student until a subsequent year or session. In some rare cases, a two-year Master’s program may require that all students receive funding in the second year of the program, usually due to the need to meet specific language requirements in the first year.
     
  3. Students must be registered full time to receive a Faculty of Arts & Science Base Funding Package.
    Students must be registered for a full 17-week session to qualify for funding for that session. If a student takes an approved leave of absence, the funding package will be revised to reflect the student’s enrolment status. This applies in the event of a retroactive leave of absence. Part-time and Flex-time students are not eligible for a base funding package.
     
  4. Students must be working full time on their program.
    It is recommended that students who take on paid employment limit their hours of work to no more than 10 hours per week, on average, in all forms of employment, including TA, other employment at the university and employment outside the university, while receiving a base funding package.
     
  5. Students must be in good academic standing.
    If academic standing is in question, the graduate unit will inform the student before funding is withdrawn.
     
  6. Students must apply for and accept external awards.
    As a condition of funding, graduate students are required to apply for and accept external awards for which they are eligible. It is a great honour to receive a prestigious fellowship. Writing applications for such awards is part of academic training.
     
    External awards become a part of, or replace, the student’s funding package. Examples of major awards are SSHRC, NSERC, OGS and foreign government awards, such as the CONACyT or China Scholarship.
     
    Tuition and fees are typically deducted from the January and May instalments of external awards administered by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). Students with major awards that are included in the funding package, but paid directly by an external source, such as a foreign government, are required to pay their tuition and fees.
     
  7. Students must seek TA work, accept any TA work that is offered and advise the graduate unit of any TA work that is accepted.
    Income from TA work is a component of the A&S Base Funding Package for most students. Failure to apply for and accept TA work may result in the forfeiture of the TA component of the funding package, which is specified in the annual funding letter, unless the student has an award that exempts the student from the TA requirement.
     
    If a student’s TA income is below the $7,896 maximum prescribed by the Collective Agreement with CUPE 3902, Unit 1, at the time that the funding letter is issued, and the student subsequently receives additional TA hours, the funding package may be revised at the discretion of the graduate unit.
    Graduate students are required to disclose TA positions held across multiple departments and campuses to the Graduate Administrator.
    Students who are terminated from their TA position “with cause” will lose the TA component of the A&S Base Funding Package for the academic year to which it applied.
     
  8. Students must accept RA-ships or similar opportunities if they are offered as part of the funding package.
    The amount of RA income included in funding packages varies by department and may generate employment income or a stipend, depending on the nature of the opportunity and Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) policy.
    Funding packages may be revised to include RA-ships that are offered after the funding letter is issued.