Financial Aid & Awards at RRU

The awards adjudication process at RRU strives to reward the most eligible students with the most appropriate awards, based on the information provided in an application and eligibility rules set by the funder.  

From the time a competition closes to the time winners are selected and all the administrative tasks are complete, it usually takes about a month; externally funded awards, such as federal research grants, may take longer.

Here's the process:

1. Applications are screened for eligibility by Financial Aid & Awards staff.
2. Qualified applications are forwarded to the appropriate nomination selection panel who independently review and rank candidates based on the eligibility criteria. 
3. Individual rankings are submitted to Financial Aid & Awards. The Financial Aid & Awards Specialist assigns a score for the top three candidates in each competition and scores are tallied.
4. The nomination selection panel meets to review the cumulative high-score candidates and finalize nominations through consensus agreement.
5. Nominations for RRU-funded awards are forwarded to the Awards Committee for final approval.
6. Congratulations and regrets emails are sent to applicants.
7. Certificates with letters for award recipients are mailed. Bursary recipients will not receive a certificate or official letter because addressing financial need is a private matter.
8. Funding is credited to successful applicants’ accounts to pay for upcoming tuition fees.

Photo of peacock feathers © Royal Roads University

•  Late applications are never accepted out of fairness to other candidates and respect for our administrative time/process.
• While the Financial Aid & Awards team drives every step of administration, we do not hold voting rights to maintain an impartial process.
• There is no limit to the number of awards one student may receive; however, if there are two front-runners in a competition, the panel may choose to “spread the love” and nominate the candidate who hasn’t yet received an award.
• Candidates may be screened out for having excessive financial need. For example, a candidate showing more than $10,000 in unmet financial need may be removed from a competition offering a $500 bursary. It's unlikely that a $500 bursary would remove the financial barrier for the student to complete their program. However, that same candidate would not be removed from a bursary competition for $7,000 because that amount of funding would make a significant difference to their unmet need.