Athletic Financial Awards

Athletic Financial Awards

U SPORTS ATHLETIC FINANCIAL AWARDS Q and A

What is an Athletic Financial Award (AFA)?
· Also referred to as an athletic scholarship, an athletic financial award is any award that is conditional to being on a U SPORTS team.
· An AFA can include, but is not limited to, scholarships, bursaries, prizes, leadership awards, merit awards, housing, and all other non-employment financial benefit received by an athlete from their institution.

Is there a limit to the value of an AFA that I can receive?
· tuition and compulsory fees is the maximum amount you can receive in an academic year, including athletic-related bursaries.
· the value and quantity of AFA's available varies from institution to institution.
· specific awards may have additional conditions, such as academic success and citizenship, beyond what is stated here.
· many awards, such as academic awards or awards provided by Sport Governing Bodies or the Federal and Provincial Governments, are not included within the tuition and compulsory fees maximum; please consult your Athletic Department.

Who provides athletic financial awards?
· all athletics financial awards provided to student-athletes must be administered through the providing university.
· to receive an athletic-related award that is not administered by your university, the award must not be conditional on attendance at any particular university, that is, you must be free to attend the university of your choice.

When can I receive an Athletic Financial Award (AFA) at StFX University?
· StFX does not award AFAs at the beginning of each academic year based on previous year’s academic performance. StFX awards an AFA to eligible student-athletes at the conclusion of each year provided you satisfy U SPORTS academic requirements with at least a 65% average or equivalent in the current academic year.
· StFX uses the guiding principle that each AFA is directly connected to the current academic year’s specific set of academic results once complete/confirmed.
· Once an eligible student-athlete has earned an AFA at the conclusion of the year, StFX will remove any current academic year interest charges on the student-athlete’s account.

StFX ATHLETIC FINANCIAL AWARDS

Each StFX varsity team has the ability to offer incoming and returning student-athletes athletic financial awards.  The administration and value of these awards is at the discretion of each team’s head coach.  Any questions on team-specific athletic financial awards should be directed to the appropriate StFX head coach.

StFX UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS and FINANCIAL AID

StFX University offers over $2 million annually in merit-based scholarships and financial aid to its new and current undergraduates. All 1st year undergraduate students with a scholarship average of 85% or higher are automatically considered for a StFX National Entrance scholarship, based on their final grade 12 transcript.

Students with a final grade 12 scholarship average between:

  • 85-89.9% - will be considered for a $5,000 StFX Entrance scholarship ($1,250 renewable over 4 years)
  • 90-95.9% - will be considered for an $7000 StFX Entrance scholarship ($1,750 renewable over 4 years)
  • 96% and higher will be considered for a $12,000 StFX Entrance scholarship ($3,000 renewable over 4 years).

Major scholarships will require a completed application submitted by March 1. 

Specific scholarship details are available at http://www.stfx.ca/apply/scholarship/

Athletic Financial Awards (AFAs) and Eligibility for 2020-2021

On June 8, 2020, U SPORTS announced a series of decisions pertaining to sports scholarships (officially known as Athletic Financial Awards or AFAs) and eligibility for the 2020-2021 year including: 

  • Clarification on qualification for AFAs for returning students taking into consideration pass-fail grades assigned to students in the winter 2020 semester;
  • Modifications to the Academic All-Canadian criteria to accommodate pass-fail grades; 
  • Permitted AFAs to be awarded in the event that 2020-2021 U SPORTS championships are cancelled;
  • That there will be no consumption of eligibility in the event that the 2020-2021 U SPORTS championships are not offered;
  • The maintaining of all current regulations for eligibility and AFAs for first time entry and transfer students from other jurisdictions;
  • The maintaining of Academic Standing regulations for the 2019-2020 academic year