Welcome to Wycliffe College

Wycliffe offers an attractive program of financial support for those who qualify. There are scholarships and bursaries for both Basic and Advanced Degree students.

Financial Assistance for Basic Degree Students

All full-time Basic Degree students may apply for bursary assistance that is awarded based on financial need. Part-time students may also be eligible for some financial assistance. Awards are normally for one academic year only and students need to reapply in subsequent years.

A number of named bursaries are available to full time  M Div. students which includes Stackhouse Scholarships that are available to theological students who are studying in the ordination stream and are endorsed by a diocese of the Anglican Church. To qualify the student must also be receiving financial support from the diocese and/or parish. Provided that at least a B average is maintained, the $3,000 scholarship will be paid each year of the three-year program. Normally only one award per student is made so that a person qualifying, for example, for the Nix Memorial Scholarship will have this in place of a Stackhouse award, not in addition.

Financial Assistance for Advanced Degree Students

Thompson Doctoral Fellowship
One Thompson Fellowship is awarded each year to an entering student. It has a value of $12,500 per year, and the tenure of the award is three years. Selection criteria include academic strength (as indicated by marks in previous academic work, by references, and by the statement of academic purpose described below), Christian character and record of Church involvement, and potential for service to the Church and to Christian scholarship. An applicant must also be in sympathy with theological commitments of the College as expressed in its Six Principles, and must demonstrate financial need. It is the College’s intention that, in the group of three Thompson Fellows at any one time, a woman, an Anglican, and a Wycliffe graduate will be represented. (More than one of these categories can be represented by a single Fellow.) To be considered, a student must have been accepted by the Toronto School of Theology as a candidate for either the Doctor of Theology or the Doctor of Philosophy degree, enrolled through Wycliffe College. Studies may be pursued in any of the four TST departments: Biblical, Historical, Theological or Pastoral. Applications should be addressed to the Wycliffe College Advanced Degree Director and are due February 15 of each year for applicants entering in the following September. The application requires the following documentation from the candidate:

(1) a letter requesting to be considered;

(2) financial disclosure, on the bursary application form authorized by the College bursary committee;

(3) a statement setting out, quite specifically, the applicant’s purposes in pursuing doctoral studies, the nature of the proposed field of study, the likely topic of the thesis, and the potential significance of this topic for Christian scholarship and for the life and mission of the Church;

(4) one non-academic reference from a member of the clergy or another church leader, sent directly by the referee to the Wycliffe College Advanced Degree Director .

Materials forming part of the candidate’s application for admission to the TST, such as personal information and transcripts, will also be consulted. An announcement is normally made during the week of March 1. Thompson Fellows in their second and third years are required to permit their name to stand for the position of coordinator of the Wycliffe Advanced Degree Students Association (WADSA).

Weston Doctoral Entrance Scholarships
At least two Weston Scholarships are normally awarded each year. The value of each is at least $4,000 per year, and it is awarded for one year and renewable for a second year. If the student is making normal progress through the program, renewal is automatic, unless the student accepts a teaching assistantship at a greater value. Selection criteria are academic strength (as indicated by marks in previous academic work, by references, and by the statement of academic interest submitted in the application for admission to TST, or another statement submitted in its place), Christian character and record of Church involvement, and potential for service to the Church and to Christian scholarship. An applicant must also be in sympathy with theological commitments of the College as expressed in its Six Principles, and must demonstrate financial need. Prospective students wishing to be considered for the scholarship must complete and submit the financial disclosure form authorized by the College bursary committee by March 31 before the September of entrance. Submission of this form will constitute application for the Weston Doctoral Entrance Scholarship. Materials forming part of the candidate’s application for admission to the TST, such as personal information and transcripts, will also be consulted.

Doctoral Bursaries
The College hopes to support every doctoral student demonstrating financial need with a bursary of at least $2,000 on receipt of a completed bursary application form each year for  the first three years of the program.

Teaching Assistantships
Every year the College awards several teaching assistantships for courses in the basic degree curriculum. The number of assistantships depends on the number of courses requiring a teaching assistant. Duties are assigned by the professor to whom the TA is assigned, not to exceed ten hours a week. Duties typically include marking academic exercises such as essays and quizzes, leading seminars, tutoring, and lecturing. A TA for one course for one semester receives a stipend of $3,000. Many TA’s are appointed for two semesters and therefore receive a stipend of $6,000. A “full” (two-semester) TA is not eligible for a bursary. For a TA appointed for one semester, the bursary award is normally capped at $1,000 for the other semester. Thompson Fellows may serve as teaching assistants, but will receive only 50% of the usual stipend. Applications for teaching assistantships are invited in March for the following academic year. As a rule, only students who have successfully completed the program stage of their doctoral studies are eligible for appointment as a TA.

Other College Bursaries
Students in the Th.M. and M.A. programs may apply for financial assistance to the College bursary committee.

Ontario Residence
Part of the College’s endowment for financial assistance has been provided by the Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund, which requires beneficiaries to be residents of Ontario. The College will therefore ensure that every year an amount of financial aid (including fellowships, scholarships, and bursaries) at least equal to that derived from the OSOTF is awarded to legal residents of Ontario. (In order to be a legal resident of Ontario, one must be a legal resident of Canada, and must have a settled and enduring relation to Ontario.) 

Bursary Application Form for financial disclosure
For a copy of the financial disclosure form used by the bursary committee, please download a bursary application and email it to Barbara Jenkins.

Government Scholarships
The Ontario government sponsors the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) program. An arm's-length federal agency called the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) sponsors a doctoral fellowship program and a Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) program. A student who accepts an Ontario Graduate Scholarship or a doctoral fellowship must resign his or her College fellowship, scholarship, or bursary. In the case where a student receives an OGS award, the College will make its required institutional contribution. The College may make a similar requirement of a student who receives substantial extra-provincial, foreign, or foundation funding.

Other Financial Aid

The Fund for Theological Education - Ministry Fellow Program A fellowship program providing support and guidance to entering Master of Divinity students who embody the highest intellectual and spiritual qualities essential for Christian leadership as pastors, educators, and citizens.

 Eligibility: 1) Applicants must be entering their first year of a Master of Divinity program at an Association of Theological Schools accredited seminary in the fall. (Currently enrolled students are not eligible for this program. M.T.S., Th.M., and M.A. students are also not eligible.) ; 2) Applicants should demonstrate excellent capacities for ministry, high academic ability, deep religious commitment, and the intent to pursue ministry as a career; 3) Applicants should combine imagination and creativity with compassion, vision, a capacity for critical thinking, leadership, communicative ability, and personal integrity; 4) Applicants should bring to the minister's role a strong sense of personal identity, a capacity to understand and act in behalf of the needs of others, and a familiarity with and dedication to a faith tradition; 5) Applicants must be citizens of the U.S. or Canada. Applicants must be 35 years of age or under.

Selection Criteria: "FTE's Partnership for Excellence is an ecumenical effort to identify, inspire and nurture outstanding college undergraduates and first-year seminary students pursuing vocations in ministry and theological scholarship. Together with seminaries, churches, non-profit organizations, students, ministers and professors, Partnership for Excellence encourages excellence and diversity in the next generation of leaders for the church. The Partnership also aims to revitalize the understanding of ministry by the public and, in doing so, to raise the profile of ministry and teaching as work that channels commitment, competence and compassion to serve the world and the common good."

Students and prospective students are welcome to consult the University of Toronto Admissions and Awards website for information and suggestions about financial planning, student loan programs, and alternative sources of financial assistance. Note that Wycliffe College is not yet able to participate in the University's promise to offer assurance of financial support to all students.