An award may be granted for academic and non-academic criteria. Examples of academic criteria include a minimum grade of 70% for students entering from secondary school, an undergraduate grade point average of 6.0, or a graduate average of B. Examples of non-academic criteria include talent, promise, community service, leadership, and financial need. Awards appear on a student’s transcript.

At York University, the term award is also generally used to refer to all fellowships, scholarships, medals, prizes, awards and bursaries (see bursary), as well as specifically defined awards. The Senate approves student award categories and should be followed while naming an award.

The University's awards can be found on the York Awards Search website. 

An example of an award is the Edward B. Harvey Award.