Financial Support

The Department of Gerontology provides funding to graduate students in its MA and PhD programs through a combination of teaching positions (Teaching Assistant/Tutor Marker), Research Assistantships (available through individual faculty members), scholarships, Graduate Fellowships and private awards. Students must maintain full time enrollment and a minimum CGPA of 3.5 in their graduate work, to be eligible for funding. Support may be reduced or eliminated if the student has secured external financial support.

External funding is available to Gerontology graduate students of high caliber through the Government agencies SSHRC and CIHR.  Application to these agencies is made in October and information can be found directly on the Dean of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies website: https://www.sfu.ca/gradstudies/awards-funding/external-gov-funded.html

Graduate students must pay tuition every semester from the funding they receive. International students pay the same rate as domestic students (http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/future/tuition-and-fees.html). The cost of tuition decreases after six semesters for MA students and after eight semesters for PhD students.

Awards

All Graduate Fellowships, President's Scholarships, Private Awards, and Travel/Research Awards are now handled by the Graduate Award, Application, and Adjudication System (GA3). For further information about this new system and how students can access this new system, please visit the following website http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/awards/FAQs/GA3SInfo.html

Below are brief descriptions of the main SFU merit-based scholarships/awards that are applicable only to Gerontology graduate students. For further details and the most up to date information, refer to the Terms of Reference which, as well as the application forms themselves, are available on the Graduate Award, Applicaiton, and Adjuciation System (GA3).  All scholarships/awards are contingent on the availability of funding, and the Terms of Reference may change without notice. In addition to these scholarships and awards, there are also a large number of internal and external funded awards, ranging up to approximately $10,000 in value.  Please consult the graduate awards website for information on awards relevant to particular graduate programs.

Entrance Awards

• Special Graduate Entrance Scholarship (SGES)
• Graduate Dean's Entrance Scholarship
• British Columbia Graduate Scholarships (BCGS)
• Graduate Fellowships

Donor Awards

• David and Rachelle Chertkow Elder Abuse/ Family Violence Prevention Essay Prize
• Fung Chan Yee Shan Memorial Scholarship in Gerontology
• GABC Chuck Bayley Memorial Graduate Award in Gerontology
• German Canadian Benevolent Society of British Columbia Aulinger Award in Gerontology
• Gloria Gutman Conference Travel Award
• Isabel Dawson Memorial Scholarship in Gerontology
• Israel Chertkow Memorial Scholarship in Gerontology
• Laurine Harrison Graduate Thesis Award
• Lillian Zimmerman Graduate Scholarship in Gerontology
• Marie Magrega Memorial Graduate Award in Gerontology
• Mark Nussbaum Graduate Research Fellowships in Gerontology
• North Shore ElderCollege Society Award in Gerontology

Financial Aid Awards

• Al Eisenring Gerontology Award (available to graduate and undergraduate students)
• Katherine Willett Award in Gerontology (available to Diploma students only)