Types of Awards

An award is a scholarship, prize, or grant.

Awards are non-repayable monetary awards based on criteria such as academic merit and/or financial need, community engagement, leadership and athletic performance. Prizes can have a monetary value, or they can be non-monetary awards based on general academic excellence, or on proficiency in a specific area of study or competition. 

In addition to the awards listed below, please check with your faculty/college registrar about further awards that may be available to you.

Admission awards are for newly admitted students entering the University of Toronto in year one of their undergraduate studies. Students are automatically considered for a variety of admission awards when they apply to the University. There are also admission awards that require students to complete a separate application or awards profile. You can search these through Award Explorer.

The University, its colleges, faculties and divisions administers over 5,700 admission awards that total nearly $36 million. Awards and cut-offs vary by division, faculty and college.

Contact Your Faculty, College or Campus for more admission awards.

Learn about the Terms and Conditions of Admission Awards.

In-course awards are open to current U of T students while graduating awards are awarded to graduating students who are in the final year of their degree. These awards are issued based on academic merit and/or financial need.  Learn more about in-course awards and other award opportunities through Award Explorer.

There are many award opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellow. Please see the School of Graduate Studies for more information, or search Award Explorer. 

All admitted students, including international students, are automatically considered for admissions scholarships. However, these awards tend to be fairly competitive because of the large volume of excellent students who apply to the University of Toronto each year. Please note that the admission awards, which are certainly a great help, are not designed to cover the full cost of international tuition so it is best to have other funding plans as well.  

Search through Award Explorer to see what opportunities are open for international students. 

Students who are studying in less than 60% of a full-time course load in a certificate, degree, or diploma program are part-time students at the University of Toronto. There are a number of awards available for part-time students. 

Search through Award Explorer to see support opportunities for part-time students. 

External awards are awarded by external organizations to currently registered University of Toronto students.  

The award amount must be sent as an electronic funds transfer (ETF) to the University of Toronto. The awarding organization must contact the awards team directly at awards.uoft@utoronto.ca for the external award banking information. We are unable to share the banking details with students.  

Learn more about the external award process. 

Faculties, colleges, and campuses offer both admission and in-course scholarships to their outstanding students. Several colleges also offer residence scholarships.  

Qualified students will be automatically considered for most of these scholarships. Others will require an application. Please refer to the individual faculty, college or campus website for further information.