Ensuring that our students have sufficient funding to study and conduct research within a timely manner and without financial strain is of utmost importance to us. The department and faculty are very proud of our excellent track record of funding students throughout their course of study, and we do not foresee this changing in the future.
For students who have not applied for, or do not receive, an external award from NSERC, SSHRC, OGS or CIHR, the following minimum financial package is typically offered. The department provides guaranteed funding in the amount of $22,000 per year to a maximum of 4 years. This offer is made up of a combination of funds from the department and the university that includes two full teaching assistantships. Note, however, that certain program areas or individual faculty members have guaranteed funding for students that exceed these minimums.
For students who receive an external award, the following financial packages apply. Should you receive funding through CIHR, NSERC, OGS, or SSHRC, you would receive at minimum one half-teaching assistantship in addition. Students who are recipients of these external awards will receive an additional President's Graduate Scholarship in the amount of $7,500 for each year the award is held, but are not typically eligible for further department or university funding. Thus your financial package would be $25,000 at minimum but could be higher depending on the type of external award received.
All graduate students are also eligible to receive further financial support to attend scientific conferences.
For your information, the full-time cost of tuition for one year for Canadian and Permanent Resident students was approximately $7,900 for 2011-2012. The cost of living is relatively low in the Waterloo region with typical housing costs around $6,105 per year, based on a single student in the university's graduate housing complex.
All our financial support packages are, of course, contingent upon students maintaining continuous full-time registration in the program, a grade average of 80% in courses, meeting the academic requirements in a timely manner, actively seeking external funding, and fulfilling teaching and/or research assistantship duties satisfactorily.
