Black Graduate Student Bursary

A complete application will include all the required information in the Black Graduate Student Bursary application on Rubric, and the separate submission/update of your financial needs assessment information through the University Registrar’s Office. Please note applications on Rubric can be edited until the submission deadline, and not after. 

Students are welcome to submit one application that includes identification with multiple Needs-based Bursary categories (Black Graduate Student Bursary, Indigenous Graduate Student Bursary, International Graduate Student Bursary) 

You will required to login with a Rubric account. We have set up single sign-on (SSO) with your mail.utoronto.ca accounts. If you have a society / student group login, please open the tab incognito.

When logging in via the SSO you may be redirected to the main general page. If you get redirected, revisit this page and travel to the link again OR go to the UTGSU society page.

Successful applicants to the UTGSU Black Graduate Student Bursary will be determined using a random lottery system. The amount of a single bursary is $1000. A total of twenty (20) applicants will be randomly selected during each year, across all disciplines and years of study.

Only applications that have met all eligibility requirements will be considered for the lottery.

Students who have submitted one application with two or more noted identity categories will only be considered in the lottery under one category. The Assessment Committee will determine which category that student’s application will be considered under, based on which category has the least number of applications. 

An applicant will not be considered for the bursary if their application is incomplete. It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to submit a complete application, including all necessary forms and documentation for the University of Toronto’s financial needs assessment process. The UTGSU is not responsible for identifying an incomplete application before the application deadline.

If an applicant has been found to have falsified their application, they will be disqualified and ineligible from future awards by the UTGSU.

The UTGSU aims to finalize award winners four weeks after the submission deadline. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application through Rubric and by email. 

If your application was not successful you will be provided with the general reason for this through the Rubric platform. If you have concerns about this, you will have 48 hours, from receiving the update via Rubric, to notify the Vice-President Finance to reassess the application. After 48 hours, an applicant cannot have their application reassessed, as the adjudication lottery would have been drawn. All decisions are final following this period.

Payment will be made to award winners via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) directly to the student’s bank account provided in the initial Rubric form application. Payments will typically take two to nine business days from the date of approval.

You will need to complete the University of Toronto’s financial need assessment process, which is facilitated by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS). 

International Students: At present, the financial need assessment is coordinated by SGS for international students using the SGS financial need assessment form.

Domestic Students: The financial need assessment  is coordinated by SGS through the University Registrar’s Office’s UTAPS system.

A guide to the UTAPS process is found on the Registrar’s Website.

The School of Graduate Studies receives and verifies an applicant’s financial need based on the information submitted by the student and the information the University of Toronto has broadly. 

The UTGSU does not have access to this financial information as we are a separate organization from the University of Toronto. All financial information submitted by students remains confidential and will be viewed and assessed by SGS only.

All your financial information should be included and up to date.

A financial need assessment may be deemed incomplete, making your application ineligible, if the information for your bursary application is inconsistent with the information the University of Toronto has. Examples of inconsistencies include:

• Information related to your spouse/partner
• Information about your dependents
• Information about the awards you have received
• Information about your income
• Information about your expenses

If you have submitted a financial need assessment form in the past, including in the weeks and months before applying to this bursary, this will need to be updated and resubmitted during the bursary application period to be considered for the bursary. 

• If this information is not updated, this may result in your application not passing the financial need assessment and therefore not being eligible for the bursary.

While UTAPS automatically updates with information about student awards, students are responsible for ensuring all information is correct and up to date at the time of applying to this bursary.

Make sure your financial need assessment form is completed in its entirety. This means all fields in the application must be completed, and not left blank. Blank fields can result in the application not passing the financial need assessment, making the application ineligible.

Questions about how to complete this form, or about submission of this form should be directed to SGS:

SGS Financial Aid and Advising Office
416-978-2839
sgs.financial.assistance@utoronto.ca