Fees and Financing
Future Students
Fees & Financing
Events
University will be a major investment of time and money. Will it be worth it? No question. But even though your degree might not come with a money-back guarantee, what we can say for sure is that your mind, heart, spirit, and life will be permanently enriched.
You owe it to yourself to find out everything you can about what it will cost and how to get help with those costs. Here’s what you need to know:
- St. Jerome’s $$ = Waterloo $$ - the SJU-Waterloo integration means that your tuition and other fees are identical to those paid by main-campus students. In fact, the University of Waterloo’s Finance department looks after calculating and collecting all your payments.
- 2 sets of scholarships – SJU Student Success Office will handle most of your entrance scholarships and other awards, and you could qualify for additional scholarships through Waterloo as well.
- Outside help – If you need additional funds, you can apply for financial assistance, which can mean bursaries and/or government aid.
- The co-op contribution – A budget-altering advantage of your dual status as an SJU/Waterloo students is your access to the largest post-secondary co-operative education program of its kind in the world. The dollars you can earn on your work terms can put a substantial dent in the cost of your education. For example, faculty of Arts students average more than $9,000 per work term.
- Other financial resources – You’ll find other valuable information on the Waterloo website for future students:
- Money Saving Tips – how to save money while you’re at university
- Answers to frequently asked questions for Ontario and International students:
The bottom line? As always, the friendly people in your SJU home base will be happy to help!
Tuition and Other Fees
What you need to know
- At St. Jerome’s University and the University of Waterloo, a school year consists of two four-month academic terms:
- either back-to-back (regular), e.g., September to April;
- or alternating with four-month paid work terms (co-op), e.g., September to April and May to August.
- You pay your tuition and fees for each individual four-month term that you’re enrolled for classes. That means you don’t pay for the entire year (eight months) all at once.
- The fees listed below are estimated averages for eight months based on 2021 figures and on a full course load of five or more courses per term.
- Actual amounts for fall 2022 will likely be higher and will available in July 2022.
- After you’ve enrolled in your classes, the precise amount owe will be posted on your account on Quest – Waterloo’s online student information system.
- You will not be considered officially registered and cannot earn credits toward your degree until you have paid your tuition and fees in full or made arrangements to pay them.
Estimated costs in Canadian dollars
|
Honours Arts Honours Arts and Business |
Domestic Students (Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident) |
International Students |
|
First-year tuition (2 academic terms/8 months) |
$8,000* |
$42,000-$43,000 |
|
Books and supplies for 8 months |
$2,100 |
$2,100 |
|
Incidental fees** for 8 months |
~$1,500 - $2,000 |
~$1,700 - $2,500 |
|
Co-op programs |
$745*** |
$745*** |
|
Residence fees for the SJU Residence, including your meal plan – other residences will have different fees that might not include meals. |
$12,928 - $13,728 |
12,928 - $13,728 |
|
Average cost of living off campus, including groceries – your costs could be more or less than these amounts. |
~$9,000 |
~$9,000 |
Important:
- *Remember that these are 2021 amounts. Your specific fall 2022 tuition and fees will be posted on your Quest account in July 2022.
- **Incidental fees are charged in addition to your tuition for items such as health insurance or campus services. The amounts depend on your program and you must pay them by the tuition deadline. Many are non-refundable, but you can request refunds for some of them after you start classes.
- ***This amount is per 4-month term (payable for the study term just before each co-op work term)
- You can estimate your own persona costs using the Interactive Budget planning tool on the Waterloo website for future students.
Scholarships
Rewarding your hard work
- Whether you receive a scholarship is usually based on your grades.
- Some scholarships, often called awards, take other factors into consideration, such as geographic location, leadership, extracurricular activities, athletics, volunteering, or community life.
- When the criteria include financial need, those awards are normally referred to as bursaries.
- You do not have to repay any money you receive as a scholarship or award.
Entrance scholarship
Scholarships that are awarded to help with the expenses of your first year of university are called entrance scholarships. You’ll automatically be considered for most entrance scholarships, but there are exceptions that require an application, so you’ll need to do your homework.
The charts below list entrance scholarships specifically for St. Jerome’s University students. The links will take you to the additional possibilities that you might qualify for because of your dual status as a Waterloo student.
SJU Entrance Scholarships
|
Deadlines
|
Program / Award
|
Range of scholarship
|
Criteria
|
|
Automatic
Mid-May |
Board of Governor's Scholarship
|
$3,000 first-year;
$2,000 available in upper-years |
- Academic performance
- Honours Arts/Arts & Business
|
|
Automatic
Mid-May |
President's Scholarship of Distinction
|
$2,000 Entrance Scholarship;
$1,500 International Experience Award and/or; $1,500 Research Award |
Open to students admitted to full-time first-year degree studies at St. Jerome's who are beginning post-secondary studies for the first time in fall 2023.
- Early May admission average of 95%+
- Arts
- Visit the President's Scholarship web page for complete eligibility details
|
|
Automatic
Mid-May |
President's Scholarship
|
$2,000
|
Open to students admitted to full-time first-year degree studies at St. Jerome’s University, who are beginning post-secondary studies for the first time in fall 2023.
- Early May admission average of 90%+
- Arts
|
|
Automatic
Mid-May |
Arts Entrance Scholarship
|
$1,000
|
- Academic performance
- St. Jerome's Arts applicants are also eligible for some University of Waterloo named scholarships
-Mid-May admission average of 85-89.9%
|
|
Automatic
Mid-May |
Founder's Scholarship
|
$1,000
|
One student each from selected Roman Catholic schools in Brantford, Cambridge, Kitchener-Waterloo, and North Bay.
- Academic performance
- May be awarded in addition to a St. Jerome's entrance scholarship
|
|
September 2023 |
$1,000
|
One student from one of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board's secondary schools or continuing education sites.
-Registered at St. Jerome's University in first year
|
|
|
September 2023
|
Red Seal Scholarship
|
$500
|
Students graduating from Waterloo Catholic District School Board and Wellington School board with a Specialist High Skills Major (Red Seal) will be given a $500 scholarship.
To claim this scholarship, students must submit their high school diploma to the Registrar's Office by the indicated deadline
|
|
Automatic 2023
|
Catholic Education Foundation of Ontario Catholic Student Award
|
$500
|
- Students beginning studies at St. Jerome's University in the Honours Arts or Honours Arts and Business program in fall 2023; or beginning studies at the University of Waterloo and living in residence at SJU beginning in fall 2023.
- Connect with your Guidance Counsellor for more details.
|
|
June 1st 2023
|
The Suzanne (Kuntz) Forth Bursary
|
$5,000
|
-Awarded to an incoming co-registered St. Jerome’s University student from a secondary school within any of the Ontario Catholic District School Boards (4 total scholarships available)
-The student must be nominated by a teacher or guidance counsellor from their respective high school. Click here for the nomination form.
-Eligible students must demonstrate financial need
|
|
June 1st 2023
|
The Joseph & Rosemary Donaldson Bursary
|
$1,500
|
-Awarded to up to 5 incoming co-registered St. Jerome’s University students
-Eligible students must demonstrate financial need
Click here for the application form.
|
|
June 1st 2023
|
The Gordon and Margaret Vanstone Scholarship
|
$2,500
|
Awarded to up to 2 incoming co-registered St. Jerome’s University Students
Click here for the application form.
|
Other scholarship opportunities
- SJU students may be eligible for scholarships from the Faculty of Arts.
- Check the additional scholarship information on the Waterloo website for future students.
- If you want to do event more digging, the Student Awards & Financial Aid website has suggestions about awards offered by external organizations beyond SJU or Waterloo.
Financial Aid - Government Loans, Bursaries
If the costs of your education are more than you can afford, help is available:
- Government loan programs – the Ontario version is called the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP)
- Bursaries
Government loans (OSAP)
Many governments support university students in need by providing funds to pay for their education. If the funding is a loan, you must repay any amounts you receive.
Ontario Residents (as defined by OSAP):
- OSAP provides government loans and bursaries to help you finance your education.
- Application forms are available on the OSAP website in early May each year.
- Visit Waterloo's Student Awards & Financial Aid website for helpful information, including details about government aid, and applying for OSAP. Deadline information can be found on each individual page.
Important:
You should apply for OSAP even if you think you might not qualify because the income criteria change from year to year and because some other awards and bursaries require that you have applied for OSAP.
Other loan programs
If you're not an Ontario resident, Student Awards & Financial Aid provides links to government funding in other Canadian provinces and to U.S. and other loan programs.
Bursaries
A bursary is money paid to you like a scholarship, but instead of being dependent on your grades, it’s based primarily on financial need. Here are the basics:
- At SJU and Waterloo, bursaries require an application. If you’ll be a first-year student at SJU, the entrance bursary you’ll apply for is a Waterloo Entrance Bursary.
- You don’t have to repay bursary amounts.
- Bursaries are meant to supplement, not replace, primary sources of funding, such as OSAP or other provincial financial assistance, co-op or other employment income, and parental/spousal contributions. That means you’ll need to investigate all of the possibilities open to you.
- You must have good academic standing, and some bursary criteria include factors such as extra-curricular involvement or leadership.
- Bursary opportunities specifically for students registered at SJU are available only in your upper years.
Important:
- The application deadline for a Waterloo Entrance Bursary is in April. You should apply by the deadline even if you haven’t received an offer of admission by then.