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Establishing a Student Award

Student awards are an excellent way to invest in the potential of the next generation and equip students with the skills and experience they need to succeed. Through donor-funded awards, you encourage and inspire students to be their best.

There are two types of awards you can choose to create: a bursary, which is based on financial need and can help provide equitable access to education, or a scholarship, which acknowledges and rewards exceptional academic achievement.  

Both bursaries and scholarships can be established as either an endowed award or an annual award. Endowments exist for the life of the university, which means your award will help generations of students and have a permanent impact. Annual awards typically exist for a term of five years and are a great option to create immediate impact. 

Option 1: Endowed Awards

You can create and name an endowed undergraduate award with a minimum endowed gift of $25,000, and a graduate award with a minimum endowed gift of $50,000. You will receive regular updates on your endowment’s performance. Carleton’s endowment fund is an actively managed pooled investment fund, with a current payout rate of 4.0% calculated on a four-year moving average. Using this payout rate, a $50,000 endowment makes approximately $2,000 available annually. (Your endowment is typically invested for one year before the first award recipient is chosen.)

Option 2: Non-Endowed Awards

You can create and name an annual undergraduate award with a gift of $5,000 ($1,000/year for five years), or an annual graduate award with a gift of $10,000 ($2,000/year for five years). After five years, without additional gifts, your award ends.

Terms of Award

You may designate your award as a scholarship, which has high academic requirements, or as a bursary, which has a financial need requirement. You may also direct your award toward a specific department or program.

You will receive regular updates on your award, including information on student recipients.

For more information or if you’d like to discuss the possibility of establishing a student award, please contact us at advancement@carleton.ca or by using the contact form.