Graduate programs are a great way to continue your learning, develop your skills, and prepare for the professional world. But getting into grad school is no easy feat! You’ll spend most of your time on getting the grades, retrieving references, and revising your resumé. You won’t want to also spend hours on figuring out your funding. Luckily, Nipissing University provides clear outlines of what types of funding are available to you throughout your graduate studies.

Discover how you can fund your education at Nipissing:

Internal awards

Internal awards are scholarships offered directly by Nipissing to support you in your grad program. Nipissing offers two internal awards:

Nipissing University Graduate Scholarship (NUGS)

Scholarship value: $5,000 or $10,000

Students who’re registered in a full-time graduate program with an 80% average are eligible for a Nipissing University Graduate Scholarship. NUGS vary in value and are meant to support graduate students in research that usually results in a thesis or major research paper and contributes to the student’s program of study. No application is required for a student to receive a NUGS.

Nipissing University Research Fellowship (NURF)

Scholarship value: variable

Students who’re enrolled in a full-time graduate program and meet the program conditions for progression towards the degree are eligible for a Nipissing University Research Fellowships. NURFS are integrated to the research programs of one or more professors from funding that’s usually obtained through research grants awarded to professors. NURFs are meant to support graduate students in research that usually results in a thesis or major research paper and contributes to the student’s program of study. Applications for NURFs are included in your application for admission.

Assistantships

Another form of funding is through assistantships. This means you’ll work throughout your studies to earn money. Don’t fret about the assistantships taking time away from your program — grad students can’t work more than an average of 10 hours per week. The Principle of Timely Completion (formerly known as “The 10 Hour Rule”) ensures that full-time grad students are able to make satisfactory progress towards their degree without being overworked.

At Nipissing, we have two types of assistantships available:

Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA)

As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, you’ll support the teaching of undergraduate courses at Nipissing. This could look like teaching tutorials, grading assignments, sitting in on classes and exams, and more. GTAs are considered employees of the university and will receive an income for their work. Applications for a GTA position are included with your application for admission.

Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA)

As a Graduate Research Assistant, you’ll provide support for academic research being conducted at Nipissing. This could mean that you’ll conduct surveys, research literature, maintain files, and provide data management for the project researchers. GRAs are employed by the university and will receive an income for their work. Applications for a GRA position are included with your application for admission.

External funding

External funds are awards that are managed by organizations outside of Nipissing. These can come in the forms of loans, fellowships, scholarships, bursaries, and grants.

Check out these examples of funding opportunities that are available to you:

View our Types of Funding page for a full list of external awards that are available to you.

Graduate Student Travel Funding

Part of being a graduate student means possibly presenting your research at conferences around the world. This can get expensive, and since you’re presenting your paper or poster, you won’t want to spend your time worrying about how you’ll afford to get to the conference.

Nipissing offers financial support twice a year to students who will be presenting their research at an academic conference. The first round of applications is due on September 15 where you can be awarded a maximum of $2,500, and the second round is due on January 15 where you can receive a minimum of $2,500. While you can apply to both rounds each year, you can only receive funding once a year for one conference.

To be eligible for some travel funding, you must be:

• a master or doctoral level student in good academic standing, registered in your program at the time of the conference
• presenting (a paper or poster) at the conference

At Nipissing, you’ll find all kinds of scholarships, awards, bursaries, and funding to help you succeed. With awards like NUGS and NURFS, you’ll not only earn money towards your education, but you’ll also gain valuable experience you can add to your resumé. If you have any questions, reach out to the School of Graduate Studies at sgs@nipissingu.ca.