Tuition fees are posted annually on the Student Accounts website. Fees are listed by program and year of entry.
The University of Toronto offers to all incoming SGS doctoral students a guaranteed funding package for 5 years of academic study, contingent upon the maintenance of good academic standing. This financial package includes the following:
- All tuition and student fees for the first 5 years
- University health insurance (UHIP) for international students
- A living stipend currently for the first 5 years. The University of Toronto has just announced that it will be increasing the base funding commitment for all PhD students in the funded cohort to $40,000, inclusive of tuition, effective Fall 2025.
This funding package is marginally adjusted annually by the University, in light of cost of living, tuition, and budgetary considerations.
Within the University’s funding program, financial packages for doctoral students are typically put together from three sources:
- University of Toronto Doctoral Fellowship
- Teaching Assistantships or Course Instructorships (and may include Research Assistantships)
- External fellowships and scholarships
Additional information on funding can be found on three A&S webpages:
How Graduate Funding Works in A&S,
The Department awards this University fellowship to doctoral students without large awards in their first five years of study
Teaching Assistants work closely with professors in connection with undergraduate instruction in the Department. Their duties usually involve grading papers and examinations, and in some cases leading weekly tutorial sections. In the Department, Teaching Assistantships (normally of between 140-170 hours) are included in the funding package during years 1 to 5 for students without an external award (such as SSHRC/OGS). For students with an external award, TA income is on top of their funding package.
It is expected that students will TA for RLG100Y/280Y at least once. Available positions are publicized starting in June, and doctoral students are asked to make their preferences known by completing the new TA Application Form online.
Under the University funding policy, if the Department offers a TAship to a student, and the student elects to decline the offer, the student’s funding will be reduced by the amount of the TAship. Under current union agreements, a student who is appointed to one TAship will receive five additional TAships of the same value or higher in successive years, providing the student is still enrolled in graduate study.
The Department makes every effort to curtail TA responsibilities during the first year of study, and to this end a reduced number of TA hours are sometimes offered to first year students. One major pedagogical objective of the Department is to prepare students for future academic careers in religious studies programs, and towards that end we try to ensure that each of our students is afforded at least one year experience as a Teaching Assistant in the World Religions course, RLG 100/280Y.
Research Assistantships
Departmental Faculty members occasionally make available research assistantships which students are encouraged to inquire about and apply for.
Course Instructors
Each year the Department for the Study of Religion has a few openings available for contracted undergraduate teaching. The undergraduate and graduate programmes of the Department work together to offer these appointments, whenever possible, to our recent doctoral graduates as well as to advanced doctoral students who have attained PhD candidacy. These positions are posted in the Department in the Spring.
All eligible doctoral students in the funded cohort are required to apply each year for competitive external fellowships, most notably the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and, for those eligible, the doctoral fellowship of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Each Fall, the Committee creates ranked lists of all the applicants for doctoral fellowships awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Ontario Graduate Scholarships are ranked in the spring. These rankings serve throughout the year as a guide for all decisions about individual funding and awards that lie within the jurisdiction of the Department. Rankings reflect the Committee’s assessment of student records based on academic merit.
The Department offers workshops on grant-writing in September of each year, and the University also offers a range of very helpful grant-writing workshops. See the U of T writing website.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowships (SSHRC and CGSD)
Canadian students and landed immigrants are eligible to apply for these awards, worth about $20,000 (or $35,000 for CGSD), funded by the Government of Canada. Application packets are available by September on the SSHRC web site at www.sshrc.ca . Applicants from outside the University of Toronto should apply through their home departments, or directly to SSHRC in Ottawa.
Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS)
The Government of Ontario offers a number of these scholarships each year, currently worth $15,000. Most of the awards are reserved for Canadian citizens or landed immigrants who are residents of Ontario, although a small number are awarded to students from other provinces and from outside Canada. More information can be found here.
Connaught Fellowships
These highly prized fellowships are awarded by the School of Graduate Studies to selected incoming international students with outstanding records who have applied for graduate study. Candidates are nominated by the Department and selected in an SGS competition. There is no separate application for these awards. The value of the award is $10,000 on top of base funding and is renewable for 5 years.
Mary H. Beatty Fellowships
These distinctions are awarded by SGS to incoming graduate students who have been selected for a SSHRC award. There is no separate application for this award.
Molly Spitzer Scholarship
The Molly Spitzer Scholarship is normally awarded annually by the Department to a Department student whose principal subject of study is Judaism. The value of this award is the annual income of the fund, currently about $2,000.
Jackman Humanities Institute Graduate Fellows
The Jackman Humanities Institute offers substantial fellowships for a limited number of Ph.D. candidates registered in the Faculty of Arts and Science who are in the final stages of their doctoral program and completing their doctoral dissertation. Each year, up to two graduate students may be nominated from each department or academic unit.
Doctoral Completion Award
The DCA will be run as a competition and will be available for doctoral students in the first year beyond the funded cohort. Both domestic and international students are eligible to apply and should submit their application to the Graduate Administrator by the appropriate deadline. The value of the award is determined by available funds. Eligiblity details are distributed each fall to 5th year students.
Work-Study
Students who meet the eligibility requirements may apply for Work-Study positions offered by the Department or by individual professors. In recent years some Research Assistantships have been available under Work-Study. Notices are posted at the Department as well as on the website of the University’s Career Centre.
School of Graduate Studies Emergency Grant Program
SGS offers grants based on financial need arising from unforeseen circumstances. The SGS Committee is particularly inclined to assist students who are nearing completion of their doctoral thesis. Grants are not normally available for the first year of study. Information is available at SGS and application is made through them.
SGS Travel Grants
The SGS research travel grant is available to help fund travel for doctoral students for whom travel is essential for the completion of their research and doctoral program. Travel to conferences is not eligible within this grant. Not all projects are funded and the funding awarded may not cover the entire amount requested by the applicant. The deadline is generally late April and application is made directly to SGS.
Department Travel Grants
The Department has a small trust fund that provides modest grants to graduate students who present papers at academic conferences. Application is made prior to the conference through the Chair of the Department for the Study of Religion.
A&S Language Study Abroad grants
Arts & Science has established a fund to enable graduate students to study a language necessary for their research, and which is not regularly taught at the U of T. Students are awarded travel, accommodation, and tuition costs for study at an appropriate institution. Since the total amount available is limited, the grants to individual graduate students will be awarded by a competitive process run by the Dean's Advisory Committee on Languages.
Junior Fellowships and Donships
Several of the colleges affiliated with the University of Toronto offer positions as Junior Fellows and Dons, for which Centre students have been particularly successful. Interested students should inquire at Massey, Trinity, Victoria, St. Michael’s, Wycliffe, New, Innis, and University colleges.
For additional information about financial support, see the Award Explorer at the School of Graduate Studies.