Undergraduate Awards

Engineering scholarship & bursary applications are closed. Please check this space again in June 2013 for application deadlines for the 2013-2014 year.

Last updated: October 31, 2012

INTRODUCTION

There are many awards available to undergraduate students. Scholarships and prizes are awarded during the summer prior to the start of studies. Bursaries are awarded in October after studies have begun. Financial Aid & Awards (FAA) administers many awards that are open to students in all faculties; please visit their website for more details. Please note that FAA exclusively has the right to notify students selected for all awards; this information can not be given to students by the Faculty.

Some awards are specifically for students in the undergraduate programs in the Faculty of Engineering. Our Engineering Undergraduate Awards website contains details of all scholarships, prizes, and bursaries that are available to Engineering undergraduate students.

>> ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS
>> FINANCIAL AID & AWARDS  |  AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS

HAVE QUESTIONS?

It is highly recommended that you read through all sections of this webpage before submitting any questions about the Awards website or the application process. To read details about scholarships and prizes, bursaries, and the Awards website FAQs, please click on the links below:

UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS & PRIZES (top)

Scholarships and prizes are typically awarded according to academic performance in a given program, year, or course. Each year, the Faculty of Engineering will notify all current students (via U of M email and this webpage) that scholarships applications are open early in the summer. Once a student has been selected for an award, Financial Aid & Awards will notify the recipient who then may see a credit in the fee section of Aurora Student Self Service.

Eligibility & Application

For all scholarships: You do not need to have completed registration for the upcoming year at the time the awards are decided upon to be considered eligible. However, you should meet the award criteria (e.g. be registered full time in both upcoming terms) by the end of the registration revision period in the upcoming Fall term to receive the award as outlined in the award's terms of reference.

For scholarships with no application: There is no action you need to take to qualify. Eligibility is based on aspects such as program, year of study, gender, citizenship, and academic performance. To be eligible for most scholarships, returning students must have full-time registration in both the previous Fall and Winter terms. "Full time" for scholarships is defined as 80% of 15 credit hours each term (i.e. 12 credit hours minimum).

For scholarships with an application: A small number of scholarships are awarded based on academic performance and some other criteria (e.g. community involvement, leadership, extra-curricular activities). These awards require you to write an essay, answer questions about your volunteer experiences, or complete some other written input.  If you want to be considered for an award with an application, you must complete the applicable form on the Awards and upload it to the system (My Files), as well as clicking on "Apply for this award". Adding an award to "My Bookmarks" shortlists awards but does not result in an application being registered. See the image below for what the menu for these items will look like in the website.

ENGAP Students

Engineering Access Program students may find additional awards here.

UNDERGRADUATE BURSARIES (top)

Bursaries are distributed mainly on the basis of financial need (as assessed by Financial Aid & Awards). Bursary applications for 2012 will be available in September. If you are short of funds and require an emergency loan, please contact Financial Aid & Awards.

Basic Criteria

  • All students must complete courses in both Fall and Winter terms to be eligible.
  • In most cases, students must register for and complete at least 60% of a full course load per term (i.e., a minimum of 9 credit hours per term).
  • Financial need must be clearly documented on the application. Students who will have current government student loans have an easier way of documenting financial need. Student aid recipients will likely be required to submit copies of their current "official" government loan assessment (not 'quick assessments') to support their declaration of financial need.
  • Students must meet minimum G.P.A requirements. Continuing students must have a minimum cumulative G.P.A. of 2.0. New students (from high school) must have a grade 12 average of 70% or higher.

Step-By-Step Process

If you believe you need a bursary for the 2012-2013 year, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that your contact information is current in Aurora Student Self Service.

2. If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, apply for a Canada Student Loan.  You may not be eligible, but if you are, whether you use the loan or not, you increase your chances for having more of your financial need covered.

3. The new University of Manitoba online bursary application is now available through Aurora Student, via the Student Awards and Financial Aid menu. Please refer to  the Financial Aid & Awards Bursary webpage for information related to completing the application. The deadline to submit the bursary application is usually the first working Monday in October. If you have questions about the needs assessment form, please contact the FAA office at (204) 474-8197 or awards@umanitoba.ca. If you are not certain your application has been completed properly, ask staff at the FAA staff to check it over before the deadline. Incomplete applications may be deemed ineligible. The information in the needs assessment form is used to determine your assessed financial need. You must complete this form to be considered for Engineering bursaries.

4. To be considered for bursaries available exclusively for Engineering undergraduate students and that have an application, you must complete the Financial Aid & Awards online forms AND the forms at the Engineering Awards site. Please note that most Engineering bursaries do not require an Engineering application. You may be wondering: "What's the difference? Why do I need to submit two or more applications?" The Financial Aid & Awards' needs assessment form determines your eligible financial need. Application for Engineering bursaries provide information relevant to a particular award. For example, a donor may prefer that a student who has shown leadership in the community be the recipient; the application allows the student to detail his or her activities supporting this quality. Since each donor may have slightly different preferences, each award requiring an application may have its own list of questions. 

5. Check http://umanitoba.ca/student/fin_awards/bursaries/1515.htm for Special Bursaries. You may be eligible for some of these bursaries (e.g. the Fung awards) that are administered directly by Financial Aid & Awards. 

6. Financial Aid & Awards will notify you of your success and will request that you accept or deny the award before it will be loaded onto your account. Once you have done this, it is recommended that you send a note of thanks to the donor; Financial Aid & Awards can provide contact information, as required.

ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS WEBSITE FAQS (top)

Creating account & logging in:

You can view the awards without logging in but you need an account to apply for the awards as well as to determine which awards you are eligible for. Login with your UMNetID (the one you use for your CC mail account, e.g. umsurname). The first time you use the system, choose "Create Account", complete your Profile, enter your UMNetID and the system will email a password to you. If you forget your password, choose "reset your password" on the main page, enter your UMNetID and you'll be emailed a new password.

What do I enter for GPA, year, and course load when creating a profile?

For most awards, the degree GPA or the sessional GPA will be required. Your degree GPA may not be the same as your cumulative GPA; the degree GPA can be located at the top of your web transcript in the "DEGREES" section. The year to use is the one you were in during the previous academic session (e.g. Fall 2011-Winter 2012 for scholarships given out in 2012). For example, if you were First Year Engineering or in U1 in Winter 2012 but will be in Civil in Fall 2012, the year to enter is 1.  Your course load is the number of credit hours that apply to your Engineering degree for that session (Fall & Winter terms) divided by 30 and entered as a decimal value. For example, if you were registered in and completed 15 credit hours, you were a part time student (15/30 = .5). Entering this information into your profile will allow you to find which awards you are eligible for. IMPORTANT: When viewing an award, to confirm eligibility, click on the link to the student records system. The awards application will use data from the U of M student records system rather than from your profile to confirm eligibility. If you believe that your records are incorrect, please consult with your departmental advisor.  The selection committee will rely on data taken directly from the student records system.

GPAs:

For explanations of what each GPA means and how it is calculated, please refer to the Registrar's Office webpage. Additionally, sessional GPA refers to the GPA based on courses taken during a Fall and the immediately-following Winter term.

To determine which year you are in, use the table of earned degree credit hour ranges below:

Program     1      2      3      4   5
All regular Eng'g programs 0-29.9 30-70.9 71-111.9 112-n   -
Co-op/Internship students 0-29.9 30-70.9 71-91.9 92-132.9 133-n

I should be in a different program... What's up?

Some changes may not have been made yet to your electronic record. For example, if you were an undeclared student from Engineering or from U1 or in high school last year or if you changed your program (e.g. to coop), Admissions or the departmental advisor may not have yet had time to enter the changes. Please confer with your advisor if you think an incorrect program has been attached to your record or if it appears you have not been admitted.

What is my current faculty/program?

Your current faculty is the one you will be in in the Fall term that is upcoming or underway. Your previous faculty/program is the one you were in during the year your academic performance is being considered. For example, if you are applying for scholarships in May 2012, your current faculty is the one you will be in starting September 2012 and your previous faculty is the one you were in from September 2011 to April 2012. If you were in high school the previous session (year), look under Direct Entry awards.

What do I need to do to apply for awards with an application (those that have YES under the column heading 'App Req')?

In order to apply for awards with an application you must complete 2 tasks:
  1. A PDF form is available for each award that requires an application; download, complete, and upload the completed form to your profile. Note: the Engineering Extra-curricular Questionnaire is attached to more than one award but needs to be completed just once. The character maximum given for responses includes spaces. For many awards, this will be 3700 characters, but for others it will be 1850 characters, including spaces.
  2. You must also click on the "Apply for Award" link to register your intent to be considered. Please note that hard copy versions of the form will not be accepted, nor will those sent by email. For awards without an application, you will be considered if you meet the eligibility criteria; you do not need to apply. If you have a disability that makes it difficult for you to complete this process, please contact the awards facilitator at least one business day prior to the application deadline using the contact information below.

What do I enter in the student number field?

Enter your 7-digit student number proceeded by 2 zeros to make a 9-digit number. For example, if your student number is 7654321, enter 007654321.

What to do if you receive an award:

Financial Aid & Awards will notify you of your success and will request that you accept or deny the award before it will be loaded onto your account. Once you have done this, it is recommended that you send a note of thanks to the donor; Financial Aid & Awards can provide contact information, as required.

Where can I get help?

If you have questions regarding any part of the award process, please contact the Awards Facilitator. You must use your UMNetID (cc) email account to send the email - non-U of M accounts will not be responded to.

For more information regarding undergraduate awards, please contact:

Shari Klassen
Awards & Data Coordinator
Phone: (204) 474-7506
Email | E2-290 EITC