Mount Saint Vincent University offers several scholarships and bursaries to new and continuing graduate students. Please visit the Financial Aid webpage for more information.
The Financial Aid Office can help you with student loans, lines of credit, bursary applications, and budgeting.
Both domestic and international students in thesis-based and course-based programs are eligible to receive some of our many internal scholarships.
To be eligible to receive most internal scholarships, graduate students must be enrolled full-time, though some are offered to both full-time and part-time students. Only the Adah Ruth Spencer Memorial Scholarship in Graduate Education is available exclusively to part-time graduate students.
Full-time graduate students who are accepted to a thesis-based program at the Mount no later than May 15th of each year will automatically be considered for our entrance scholarships.
The Graduate Studies Scholarships, Assistantships and Awards Committee (GSSAAC) will select the recipients and no application is required unless noted otherwise.
The list of entrance scholarships available to graduate students can be found in the Graduate Academic Calendar, page 36.
Students may be automatically considered for some awards, but may need to apply for others. When applications are open for these awards, application forms are available from Department and program offices, the Deans’ Office (Seton 302), from the Groodle, the Moodle site for graduate students.
The list of in-course scholarships available to graduate students can be found in the Graduate Academic Calendar, pages 37 – 38
Students are encouraged to apply for external scholarships. Some of these funding opportunities are listed below.
The three Canadian research granting councils, The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), award fellowships and scholarships to Masters and Doctoral students. Students currently registered at a Canadian university must apply through the Tri-Agency Research Portal
The following is a partial list of external scholarships available to graduate students at Mount Saint Vincent University. For more information, please go to these awards’ websites, or visit Groodle, the Mount’s grad student community on Moodle.
The DBDLI Graduate Research Fellowship Programme assists students of African ancestry to complete post-secondary education at the graduate level, and provide an opportunity for DBDALI to strengthen its relationship with ‘up and coming’ researchers in the African Nova Scotian community.
Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation Scotia Scholarships
Canadian Federation of University Women Scholarships and Awards
Soroptimist Foundation of Canada Grants for Women
W.L. Mackenzie King Scholarships
Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarships
Defence Engagement Program Scholarships
Delta Kappa Gamma World Fellowship
Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada Graduate Student Awards of Merit
Scholarships for International Students
Canadian-Universities.net Canadian scholarships page
Organization of American States Academic Scholarships Program
Students should refer to the individual application forms for information on criteria to apply for scholarships and criteria to hold scholarships.
To be eligible to hold a scholarship, students must be registered in the year for which the scholarship is awarded. Scholarships are intended for current students, and not as end-of-program awards.
Individual departments and programs may offer graduate students research assistantships, teaching assistantships, and other academic employment. Graduate students should ask their academic advisors, graduate program coordinators, or program assistants if this type of academic employment is available.
The Office of Graduate Studies does not award or administer research or teaching assistantships.
Limited funding is available for graduate students to supplement thesis research and for conference attendance. For information on this funding, visit our Funding Assistance page.
Bursaries are need-based awards intended to assist students in financial difficulty with the costs of attending Mount Saint Vincent University. Graduate students can submit bursary applications to the Financial Aid Office
Awards are given to in-course students for particular achievements. Please note that the listing of awards is accurate, but that changes may occur.
Applied Human Nutrition Thesis Conference Travel Award
Created to support budding researchers/scientists in their dissemination activities, this award is for full-time students in an Applied Human Nutrition degree program. Undergraduate students must be entering the 3rd or 4th year with a GPA of 3.0 or higher in all 1st and 2nd year NUTR courses. Graduate students must have successfully proposed their graduate research, received MSVU research ethics approval and have an established supervisory committee. Students will be required to present their research and experience to the Department of Applied Human Nutrition following the conference. Submission requirements are available from the Department of Applied Human Nutrition.
Field Family Graduate Award in Child and Youth Study
Established by the family of Harriet Field, a former faculty member in Child and Youth Study, to recognize dedication to her students and to the early childhood education profession. This award will be presented annually to a student in the Graduate Child and Youth Study Program who has demonstrated academic excellence; who has completed a minimum of 1.0 unit of graduate courses, preferably in Child and Youth Study; and who has experience working with children and/or youth. Preference will be given to a first year graduate student who has demonstrated potential for research. Recipients are chosen by the GSSAAC on the recommendation of the Department of Child & Youth Study. Please visit the department of Child & Youth Study for application information.
Judge Corrine Sparks Community Award
Established by Judge Corrine Sparks, a Mount Saint Vincent University alumna and past member of the MSVU Board of Governors. Judge Sparks graduated from MSVU in 1974 with a bachelor of arts in economics. She went on to earn a bachelor of law degree in 1979 and in 2001 completed a master’s of law degree at Dalhousie University. Appointed to the Nova Scotia Family Court in 1987, Judge Sparks became the first African Nova Scotian to be appointed to the bench, and the first African Canadian female to serve on the judiciary in Canada.
This award is presented annually to an MSVU student who has demonstrated service and recognized contribution to the African Nova Scotian community. Preference will be to an African Nova Scotian student.
The Financial Aid Office can help you with student loans, lines of credit, bursary applications, and budgeting.