Types of awards

The term "award" encompasses four major types:

1. A scholarship is financial aid towards academic studies, awarded on academic merit alone, or on academic merit combined with other criteria.
2. A bursary is an award of money towards fees based on financial need.
3. A prize is a reward for academic merit. Continued study is not a condition.
4. An athletic award is a grant of money to a student who participates in Canadian Inter-University Sport competition. These awards are governed by CIS regulations.

Scholarships and bursaries may be for students who will be attending the University of Regina for the first time (entrance scholarships & bursaries) or for students who have already completed at least one semester at the University of Regina (undergraduate scholarships & bursaries).  Prizes include awards for graduating students.

Commonly-used Terms

Academic Achievement
Unless otherwise stated, academic achievement means an average of 75% or higher. An explanation of how averages are calculated can be found in the next section.

Direct Entrance
When an entrance award requires "Direct entrance from high school," applicants must be applying for admission to the next semester after high school graduation; usually this means they are graduating in June and applying to the next Fall semester which begins in September. Applicants are also considered to be coming directly from high school if they apply for admission to the Fall semester after graduating in the immediately preceding December or January.

Disability
Students who are unable because of a disability to register in the minimum credit hours stated in a scholarship's terms of reference, may nevertheless be eligible for consideration if their maximum course load is specified and documented by a professional qualified to assess their disability. Students must be registered with, and their documentation must be provided to, and verified, by the University of Regina's Disability Resource Office at the start of each semester during which the student may be considered for a scholarship or bursary.

Financial Need
When financial need is a criterion for an award, applicants must supply a statement of their projected costs and income. More information is given on application forms.

Registration
Unless otherwise stated, a requirement to be “registered in…” indicates the minimum number of credit hours the recipient of an award must be registered in the semester in which the scholarship is paid. If no statement about registration is made, registration in at least 12 credit hours is required.

Residence
Unless otherwise stated, a requirement to be "resident in ..." means that the candidate must have lived in the stated location for a minimum of twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the date of application for the award.

Year of Study
The descriptions of undergraduate scholarships and bursaries refer to "year of study." Unless otherwise stated, this should be interpreted as follows:

Year 1: refers to students who successfully completed 0-23 credit hours
Year 2: refers to students who have successfully completed 24-53 credit hours
Year 3: refers to students who have successfully completed 54-83 credit hours
Year 4: refers to students who have successfully completed 84-113 credit hours
Year 5: refers to students who have successfully completed 114-143 credit hours

Beyond 5th year refers to students who have successfully completed 144 or more credit hours

When certification is required, the University certifies total credit hours successfully completed, including credit hours that may be extra to the current program.