Courses, Money & Enrolment

Co-op student awards

Students participating in co-op may be eligible to receive scholarships provided they satisfy the UBC Senate regulations governing University awards and the special conditions detailed below.

If you are a co-op student with student loans, see the section on student loans and co-op.

Co-op for half of the Winter Session

If during the Winter Session you have one co-op work term and one academic term (e.g. one term in classes), your scholarships will be affected in the following ways.

Receiving a scholarship during a co-op year

  • You must be registered in at least 12 credits during the academic term to receive the scholarship.
  • Scholarships you receive for that Winter Session will be paid to you in entirety during the academic term, even if they would normally have been split over both terms.

Scholarship eligibility for the following year

  • When calculating your scholarship eligibility for the following school year, the co-op course does not count towards your academic average.
  • You will have taken fewer credits during the year with one co-op term, so your average for scholarships will be calculated on your best 12 credits (usually it’s based on 24 credits).
  • Because you will only have completed half an academic load during the co-op year, you will only be eligible for scholarships at half-value the following year. This will balance out over your degree, however, because your degree will take a year longer to complete with co-op, giving you an additional year of scholarship eligibility.

For example, a student receiving a $2,000 scholarship this school year was on co-op for Term 1. They received the entire $2,000 in Term 2, since they were registered in at least 12 credits.

The same student is now being considered for a $3,000 scholarship for the following year. Their academic average is based on their best 12 credits (not counting the co-op course). If the student is eligible, they will receive $1,500 of the scholarship, because they completed only half an academic load this year.

Renewable Entrance Scholarships

A co-op student with a renewable entrance scholarship will receive the same total monetary value, but the funding will be spread over five years instead of four. The rules are identical to those listed above, and the student will still need to meet the renewal criteria specific to their scholarship.

Co-op for both terms of the Winter Session

If you will be going on co-op for both Winter Session terms, any scholarships or academic awards must be deferred to the following Winter Session. This is because you cannot receive scholarships during your co-op work terms. You will need to request and be approved for a deferral. To be eligible for the scholarship, you must request the deferral before you start on co-op.

Deferral requests for scholarships should be directed to Student Services. Students who don’t request a deferral before their co-op term begins will unfortunately become ineligible for the scholarship.

For example, a student would normally have been eligible for a scholarship during the Winter Session (September to April), but is on co-op for the full year. With a deferral, the student could receive the scholarship in the next Winter Session instead.

The student needs to request a deferral before September and receive approval in order for the scholarship to be available for September of the next year.

Courses, Money & Enrolment