The application process has opened for five different bursaries, offered by the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union: a need-based bursary, book-based bursary, international student bursary, accessibility U-Pass bursary, and a childcare bursary.
“Our students pay some of the highest tuition fees in Canada and it’s important that we support our students and understand that we all come from different walks of life,” wrote UTMSU’s president Salma Fahkry in an email to The Medium. “It’s also important to acknowledge the barriers of high tuition fees and how this can impact a students’ ability to receive post-secondary education.”
The bursaries are offered throughout the fall, summer, and spring academic terms, and can be accessed through online applications available on the UTMSU website.
According to the application, the need-based bursary “is designed to assist full-time & part-time undergraduate students, who have proven they are in financial need, in meeting the high cost of financing their post-secondary education.”
In order to help with the cost of textbooks, the UTMSU offers the book-based bursary “to assist students in meeting the high cost of financing their post-secondary education.” They mention that, “The bursary is a reimbursement of some of the costs associated with the purchase of books during the Fall 2016 academic term.” Reimbursement will come in the form of cheques from the union.
The application states that the international student bursary “is designed to assist registered, undergraduate, international students who have proven they are in financial need, in meeting the high cost of financing their post-secondary education.”
The union’s accessibility U-Pass bursary “is designed to assist full-time students, who require the use of wheelchairs and/or are currently registered with UTM Accessibility.” According to the application process, students applying for this bursary are also required to return their U-Pass.
The UTMSU designed the childcare bursary to “assist full-time, part-time and graduate students, who have children that need childcare in order to attend a post-secondary education.”
Once a student has accessed their desired application, they need to bring the filled application along with all required documents to the UTMSU in the Student Centre. These applications are then assessed by the bursary coordinator. The final decision is then made by the bursary committee after all the information has been brought to them.
The deadline to apply for all fall bursaries is October 20th.
