Tuition and Funding

Tuition

Regardless of the type of graduate degree program you intend to pursue, financial planning is important. We know that thinking about financial matters related to attending graduate school can be stressful and we want to provide you with as much information as possible. Here are some tuition resources that will be helpful to you in your planning:

• Tuition fees
• Incidental fees
• How to pay tuition and fees
• Understanding your invoice
• Late registration fees

Funding and Research Scholarships

Find more information about funding and research scholarship opportunities at Laurier:

• Employment-based funding
• Internal scholarships and awards
• External funding and awards

Funding at a Glance

Note: Students registered in a graduate program at Martin Luther University College are not eligible for internal funding administered through the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Contact Martin Luther University College for more information.

Research-Intensive Master's Programs

Most research master's programs provide full-time domestic students an average of $16,500 for 1 or 2 years (duration is confirmed at the point of admission). Support is made up of teaching assistantships as well as internal and/or external scholarships. Some research assistantship support is also available. Contact your academic program for more information.

Professional/Course-based Master's Programs

Professional/course-based master's programs do not provide funding packages but consider domestic full-time applicants for possible entrance scholarships upon admission. Some external awards are available to full-time students in professional/course-based master's programs.

Limited research assistantships may be available. Contact your academic program for more information.

Doctoral Programs

Eligible students admitted to study on a full-time basis in doctoral programs are guaranteed a minimum of $24,000 per year for up to four years (duration is confirmed at the point of admission). The average level of annual funding for eligible doctoral students at Laurier exceeds $25,000. Students are expected to apply for external awards (specifically Tri-Agency and Ontario Graduate Scholarships) each year while eligible.

Support is made up of teaching assistantships, internal and/or external scholarships, and research assistantships, where available. Students must meet the scholarship eligibility requirement of the university.

International prospects who wish to apply to Laurier to pursue a doctoral program and who have third party funding are considered for admission. Confirmation of third-party funding requires formal documentation confirming that the funding is awarded on the basis of an application submitted by the prospect to a government/NGO or similar organization, and normally awarded through a selection process. The formal documentation is expected to include the following:

• Purpose of funding (education costs only, or education plus living costs)
• Duration of funding
• Annual amount of funding
• How funding will be disbursed to student
• Expectations for degree completion (i.e., if the student withdraws from the program, or changes programs, is the funding withdrawn?)
• Specific progression requirements (e.g., temporary withdrawals/approved leaves, university reporting requirements to the funding organization including frequency of such requirements)
• Outcomes for failing to meet expectations (e.g., any penalty to the student if the degree is not completed within a specific timeframe).

Top-Up Funding for Major Award Winners

Winners of major external awards may be eligible for top-up funding*, including the Dean’s Graduate Scholarship (total value exceeds $10,000). 

The following external awards are eligible for top-up funding:

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship
• Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology
• Canadian Graduate Scholarship - Master’s
• Tri-Council – Doctoral (excluding Vanier)

*Top-ups are available for students within their normal funding period and in research-intensive programs only. Students enrolled in professional programs are eligible for a Graduate Incentive Scholarship which provides a $1,000 top-up.

Note: Laurier reserves the right to amend the components of the annual funding. External awards form part of the annual funding. Consequently, components of the annual funding from Laurier may be amended at our discretion in cases where an external award is held. Students who hold funding at $50,000 or more per year to pursue their graduate studies are ineligible for Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies funding.