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Queen's University
 

Application and Instructions 

Application:

*BEFORE ACCESSING THE GENERAL BURSARY APPLICATION PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION BELOW*

Failure to follow the instructions below may lead to delays in assessing your General Bursary application due to incomplete or inaccurate information, or impact the amount of Bursary assistance you receive.

Applications will be audited on a random basis for accuracy and consistency.



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Instructions for All Students:

Students who wish to be considered for the Queen's General Bursary must submit an application each year they are registered in studies at Queen's. The Queen's General Bursary will not be automatically renewed. If a student has received Queen's General Bursary in the past, their previous assessment has no bearing on the assessment for funding for the current academic year.

Many bursaries have been established thanks to the generous contributions of donors and benefactors. By submitting a General Bursary application you will be automatically considered for these bursaries. 


Government Student Assistance Criteria: Queen's students

The Queen's General Bursary is a need-based meant to supplement, not replace, government student assistance, student and family contribution and, at times, a student line of credit. Therefore, it is expected that students access all available sources of funding before applying for General Bursary.

All domestic students (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) are required to apply and qualify for government student assistance with their respective province in order to be considered for General Bursary assistance. Students in receipt of OSAP must complete and and submit the Confirmation of Income to OSAP in order to receive General Bursary assistance.  Generally a student will be expected to have qualified for at least $5,000 of government student assistance to be considered for a bursary. Please visit the Government Student Assistance section for more information on how to apply for financial assistance.

Only in rare circumstances of a student being denied government student assistance as a result of loan default, bankruptcy or overpayment and after every reasonable effort has been made by the student to remedy the situation, will a student be considered for General Bursary without loan funding. It is the student's responsibility to provide proof that they have taken all necessary steps to obtain clearance and have nonetheless been unsuccessful.

Please note that if a student does not pick up and/or process their government student assistance their General Bursary application may be placed on hold or reassessed.


Student Line of Credit Criteria:

Students are expected to access government student assistance first. However, if you are ineligible for government assistance or the amount of government assistance you qualify for is minimal, then you should apply for a student line of credit.

If you currently have a Student Line of Credit and have exhausted all or a majority of the funds please contact your bank or financial institution to apply for an increase.

It is important to remember that accessing a Student Line of Credit alone is not enough to qualify for a General Bursary. In order to qualify for a bursary, domestic students (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) must have qualified for government student assistance.

If you are a student in a professional program (Medicine & Law), then you will be expected to access both government student assistance and a line of credit to be considered for General Bursary. Please note that graduate students and students in a professional program who are accessing government loans and a line of credit for the first time may not be considered for General Bursary.

For more information about Student Lines of Credit, and specifically regarding the RBC/Queen's Student Line of Credit, please visit the Student Line of Credit section of the website.


Information Needed to Complete the Application:

As part of the General Bursary application students will be asked to complete a budget outlining their costs and resources for their study period. Please ensure that you complete the expense portion of the budget based on the number of months in your study period. For example, undergraduates should report their resources/expenses for 8 months (September-April), while graduate students and those in 3rd year Medicine or the Advanced Standing Nursing program should report their resources/expenses for 12 months (September-August).

Expenses occurring outside of a student's study period will not be considered in the General Bursary assessment. For example, living expenses (rent, utilities, etc.) incurred during the summer period will only be considered if the student is registered in a 52-week program at Queen's during the Summer term. Therefore if a student is only registered at Queen's in the Fall-Winter, the cost of their rent during the summer will not be considered, even if they are obligated to a 12-month lease.

In order to complete the budget portion of the General Bursary application students will be required to report the following information. It is recommended that students compile this information before beginning the application:

BUDGET ITEM

INFORMATION REQUIRED

Government Student Assistance

  • Total funding including all loans and grants
  • If you are receiving government student assistance from provinces/territories outside of Ontario, you must submit either a Notice of Assessment or Confirmation of Funding to the Student Awards Office
  • Student loans from your home country if you are an international student (loans must be in student's name)

Student Line of Credit

  • Indicate your credit limit, balance owing, and available credit (as stated on August and September statements)

NOTE: We do not require a copy of the line of credit statement unless your application is being audited (refer to Changes and Audits section)
Savings prior to the start of this study period
  • Total amount of money you have left after paying any summer expenses. Do not indicate your summer earnings - only the savings prior to the start of the academic session.
Financial Contributions from Parents, Spouse, Relatives and/or Friends
  • Total amount of financial support provided throughout the study period.
Assets (Trust Fund, Investments, RRSPs, etc.) 
  • Current value of all assets in student's name.
RESPs
  • Funds cashed in for use during this academic year.
Government Income (e.g. CSST, Orphan's Benefit, Social Assistance, etc.)
  • Total funding to be received during this academic year.
Income from part-time job during study period
  • Estimated amount of income you expect to earn during this academic year.

NOTE: If you are receiving work from Work Study be sure to enter this in the "Work Study Entitlement" section, not this section of the application.
Work Study entitlement
  • Entire Work Study entitlement you have been granted for the academic year.

NOTE: If you have been granted an entitlement but do not participate in the Work Study program or will not earn the full entitlement please notify the Student Awards Office in writing.
Scholarships/Awards/Bursaries
  • All scholarships, awards and bursaries you received from all sources (Queen's or external) during this academic year.
TA or RA
  • Total funding to be received trough TA and/or RAship during this academic year.
  • Funding package will be validated with School of Graduate Studies or with your department.
Parent(s)' income

Must be reported for students who have been out of high school for less than 4 years.

  • Canadian students can obtain the required information from their parent(s) Income Tax Return/Notice of Assessment
  • International students are required to report the total gross amount of earnings received by their parents converted to Canadian Dollars.
Spouse/Partner's income (if applicable)

Must be reported for married, common law or students

  • Canadian students can obtain the required information from their partner's Income Tax Return/Notice of Assessment 
  • International students are required to report the total gross amount of earnings received by their partner converted to Canadian Dollars.
Vehicle
  • Value of any vehicle(s) registered in the student's name.
Non-education related loans (e.g. mortgage, car loan, etc.)
  • Current debt load from all loans, other than those through government student assistance or Student Line of Credit.

NOTE: A loan has to be verifiable through an impartial institution (e.g. bank, government). Personal loans are not verifiable and will not be taken into consideration for eligibility or debt load.
Loans from previous year(s)
  • Total amount of government loans in previous years (OSAP recipients may validate the amount of the their previous loans online by logging into their OSAP account) 
  • Total amount accessed through Student Line of Credit in previous years 
  • Total outstanding credit card balance(s)
Living Expenses (e.g. rent, utilities, food, etc.)
  • Include all living expenses incurred for the entire academic year:
    • Undergraduate students - 8 months (September - April)
    • Graduate/3rd-year Medical & Advance Standing Nursing Students - 12 months (September - August)

NOTE: Expenses occurring outside of a student's study period will not be considered in the General Bursary assessment. For example, rent paid over the summer period - while student was not a registered at Queen's - will not be considered.
Unexpected expenses
  • Cost unrelated to a student's educational needs will not be considered in the Queen's General Bursary assessment. These include, but are not limited to: extraneous travel home, flights and/or lodging for family, personal loans to family/friends. 
  • Cost of leasing a computer for the student's full academic year has been built into the books and supplies guidelines used to assess applications.
  • Consideration is given to reasonable travel costs and is built into the living expenses guidelines used to assess applications.
  • If you have included any unexpected expenses (e.g. medical, dental, prescriptions, fire, break-ins, etc.) supporting documentation such as a receipt, insurance information, etc. must be submitted to the Student Awards Office. These costs will not be considered without proper documentation.

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Specific Instructions for Graduate, Third Year Medical and Advanced Standing Nursing Students:

Students who have a study period longer than 34 weeks (Graduate students, third year Medical students, Advanced Standing Nursing students) will be automatically assessed for the entire length of their study period when they submit their General Bursary application and should not submit a Summer Term General Bursary application (you will already be assessed for bursary assistance for this period).  The budget figures should reflect your costs/resources for the entire length of your study period (i.e. 12 months).

Graduate Students:  Please note that your funding package will be validated with the School of Graduate Studies or with your department.

 

Specific Instructions for Married and Common-Law Students:

For Queen's General Bursary purposes you are living in a common-law relationship if:

  1. you and your partner have been living together in a conjugal relationship for not less than 3 years, or
  2. you and your partner are living in a conjugal relationship and raising any children of whom you both are the natural or adoptive parents.

If you are married or in a common law relationship and your partner is not a student at Queen's University, please submit one application indicating all expenses and all resources for both partners.  If your partner and/or dependent(s) are not living with you in Kingston you will be asked to explain your living arrangments.  In the 'Debt Load' section fo the application indicate the total debt structure for the family.

If you are married or in a common law relationship and your partner is a student at Queen's University both you and your partner must submit an application.  When completing the expenses and resources section of each application, each of you will enter only half of your living expenses and all of your individual resources.  In the 'Debt Load' section of the application each student must indicate only their own personal debt load.

If you have dependent child(ren) please see the Specific Instructions for Student with Dependent Children section for further information.


Specific Instructions for Students with Dependent Children:Queen's student

For Queen's General Bursary purposes, dependent children are:

  • children with disabilities;
  • pre-school children and children attending elementary or high school who are under 16 years of age;
  • children 16 years of age or older must be either full-time (taking 60% or more of a full course load) high school or full-time postsecondary students

Children who do not have a disability and who have been out of high school for 4 or more years are not considered dependents.

Please be sure to include all costs related to the support of any dependent(s).  Although bursary funds are usually not sufficient to cover the additional costs of a student's dependent(s), the General Bursary Committee needs to know where each student's resources are allocated.

If you are married or in a common law relationship and your partner is a student at Queen's University only one student should claim the expenses for dependent(s) on their application.

If you have claimed child care expenses on your General Bursary application you must completed the Child Care Receipt form.   Your General Bursary application will not be processed until the Student Awards Office has received this form.

Specific Instructions for International Students:

International students should first pursue student loan options through their home country by contacting the appropriate student loan processing agency in their country.  If your resources are less than $15,000 (CAD) for 8 months, you must submit a letter to the Student Awards Office explaining how your daily living costs and educational expenses are being met.

All costs and resources on the General Bursary application must be reported in Canadian dollars.

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