Funding
Funding
York University's academic calendar is divided into three semesters each year: Fall (September - December), Winter (January - April), and Summer (May - August). Fees is paid for each semester and consists of tuition and ancillary fees.
The domestic tuition rates for full-time MA and PhD students coming into the program in 2023 is $1435.51 and $717.75 for part-time students. Including ancillary fees, domestic students pay $1,727.54 if they are full-time, or $866.26 if they are part-time.
The international tuition rates for full-time MA students coming into the program in 2023 is $6,275.00 and $3,137.50 for part-time students. There are also ancillary fees, international MA students pay $6,567.03 if they are full time and $3,286.01 if they are part-time.
The international tuition rates for full-time PhD students coming into the program in 2023 is $6000 and $3000 for part-time students. There are also ancillary fees, international PhD students pay $6,292.03 if they are full time, and $3,148.51 if they are part-time.
For more information on the standard funding package, please visit: https://www.yorku.ca/gradstudies/students/current-students/graduate-funding/funding-at-york/york-graduate-fellowship/
Note: Due to Covid-19 protocols and suspension of services across the university, some ancillary fees may be subject to change.
Full-time MA students are funded for 1 year (3 semesters), meaning their fees will be paid in its entirety by the university for 1 year. Full-time PhD students are funded for 5 years and with a Teaching Assistantship (TAship), their funding continues to year 6. This may not be the case for part-time students.
Most often, these funds will show up in your student account as the 'York Doctoral Fellowship' or as the 'YU Graduate Fellowship'.
These funds will be supplemented by a 'Tuition Offset' in the case of international students.
As long as you are a member of CUPE 3903 Unit 1, you will also receive the 'GS-CUPE Unit 1 Graduate Financial Assistance'.
Through a combination of these funds, or any other internal or external funding you may have, your fees will be covered in its entirety.
All these monies will be directly deposited into your York University student account. Only after your Fees has been cleared, and only when your student account shows an excess of funds after clearing your fees, you may request the excess each semester in the form of a refund.
Here's where you go to request a refund: https://sfs.yorku.ca/refunds/request
LATE FEES, INTEREST CHARGES, & 'GOOD ACADEMIC STANDING'
York University will charge a student fee when the student registers for an upcoming semester. However, scholarships, bursaries, and other financial assistance will mostly roll out in the first two months of each semester. Therefore, very often students will have an outstanding balance in their student accounts until it is slowly adjusted against incoming funding.
If you register for Fall & Winter semesters together, for example, then you may have a cumulative outstanding balance of two semesters which won't be fully cleared until February!
Do not worry -- students who are fully funded are not supposed to pay their outstanding balance at all!
However, York will sometimes tack on interest on unpaid fees in your student account. If they don't reverse it automatically, please get in touch with the GPD, GPA, or with FGS directly to have it reversed.
It is important to note that to be a student in "good academic standing" you will need to have less than $1000 as outstanding balance in your student account. Sometimes, "good academic standing" is required to apply for petitions, scholarships, and other opportunities. If you find yourself in a situation where your outstanding balance is stopping your access to petitions or other opportunities, please get in touch with the GPD and ask for further clarifications!
Please check your offer letters from York University for more information on your funding, and write to FGS, CUPE, or the GFWSSA about questions regarding the same.
TAKE HOME PAY
Take home pay will be your salaries as teaching assistants, research assistants, and/or graduate assistants. These are payable on the 25th of each month of your contract and will be deposited directly into your bank account. These are the monies most graduate students rely on to pay rent, and cover expenses of living in Toronto.
For example, a PhD student's TA salary for a 1.00 TAship (a full TAship, spread over 2 semesters or in some rare cases, 1 semester), might be $12,338.00. Students will likely not be eligible for more than a 1.00 TAship each year, barring exceptional circumstances.
Since 2019, York University credits the 'Grant In Aid' portion of the teaching assistantship to the York student account. This grant in aid must then be requested as a refund once the fees for the semester is fully paid. To understand more about why this is happening, click here!
As the GFWSSA, we encourage incoming students to connect with each other and discuss their financial offers and TA offers. Not only does it build a safe and trusting environment for graduate school years, but it also allows students to advocate for their own offers if they are not at par with those of their cohort.