Committment to Financial Assistance

The majority of students admitted to the programs based at The Balsillie School receive some form financial assistance. Graduate students at the Balsillie School are eligible for a variety of scholarships. Internally, students are eligible to receive Ph.D.-level fellowships valued at $25,000 and Master’s-level CIGI Junior Fellowships at $15,000, as well as additional university-based scholarships and funding. Externally, one of the goals of the School is to have all doctoral students receive some form of outside funding at some point in their Ph.D. experience. To assist students, the Ph.D. program conducts a “Grant Writing Seminar” at the beginning of each academic year. Since 2010, students in the Global Governance Ph.D. program have been awarded more than $1 million in external support for their research.

Internal Scholarships for Master's Students

The CIGI Junior Fellowship Program is a fellowship given to talented master’s level students at The Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) as part of the Master’s in International Public Policy and Master of Arts in Global Governance programs. The program combines a $15,000 three-term scholarship with research and professional development experiences intended to enhance the knowledge and skills of Master’s program students.

Internal Scholarships for Ph.D. Students

Wilfrid Laurier University (requires at least an 80% average in previous graduate degree)

Balsillie Fellowships (valued at $25,000 per year)
Graduate Teaching Assistantships
Research Assistantships
WLU Graduate Scholarships (valued at up to $7,000)
Incentive Scholarships (valued at up to $4,500)
Laurier Ontario Graduate Fellowships (valued at $8,000)
Faculty of Graduate Studies International Student Scholarship (one award per year - variable)
Dean of Graduate Studies PhD Dissertation Award (one per year, for research costs - variable)

University of Waterloo (requires at least an 80% average in previous graduate degree):

Balsillie Fellowships (valued at $25,000 per year)
President's Graduate Scholarship (additional $10,000 to OGS and SSHRC recipients)
University of Waterloo Entrance Scholarship ($3000 and above)
Provost's Doctoral Entrance Award for Women ($5000, one award/year)
Arts Graduate Enhancement Scholarship (variable)
Limited number of teaching and research assistant positions may also be available

External Scholarships for BSIA Students

* Awards Balsillie School students have won since 2007
** Awards Balsillie School students have been nominated for since 2007

"The BSIA strikes a unique balance between having an intimate student community with access to the resources of a large school including a wide variety of faculty drawn from a number of academic departments."

-Jessica West, Ph.D. Student