SCHOOL ASSOCIATES
Tuition Fee Credits
To show appreciation for teachers and schools that collaborate in the mentorship of SFU student teachers, the Faculty of Education grants up to a maximum of 4 Tuition Fee Credits (TFCs) each semester that can be applied to any undergraduate or graduate credit course at Simon Fraser University.
Policy and Regulations
- Tuition fee credits expire two years from when they are first issued. The expiry date cannot be extended.
- TFCs cannot be applied towards previous balances owing.
- In order to redeem TFCs, you must be registered in a course during the semester in which you are redeeming the credits.
- TFCs become valid the semester following when they are issued.
- Credits may not be sold. If we have evidence that sales have transpired, the credits become invalid.
- If a TFC is used for a course which is then dropped, the credits will not be returned.
- TFCs can only be used for base tuition amounts.
- The value of each tuition fee credit is equal to that of an undergraduate credit, regardless of whether it is redeemed for courses at the graduate or undergraduate level.
- Tuition fee credits cannot be applied to Continuing Studies courses as Continuing Studies courses are non-credit.
- To avoid the 2% late payment fee penalty assessed by Student Accounts, please submit all transfer and online requests to redeem credits by the end of the 2nd week of the semester. Late penalty fees are the sole responsibility of the student.
- To use tuition credits, you must be admissible to SFU and, therefore, need to first apply to the University for admission. These credits can be applied towards any credit course, graduate or undergraduate, offered by Simon Fraser University. The University, however, reserves the right to exclude any special program or course from the waiver policy.
See below for further information and instructions regarding redeeming and/or transferring tuition fee credits.
FAQs
How do I redeem my TFCs?
If the TFCs have been issued directly to you, or if the TFCs have already been transferred to you but you chose not to redeem the credits at the point of transfer, then you can submit the following online form.
If the credits are being transferred to you and you are in the process of filling out the transfer form then you can check off the "apply credits to current semester" checkbox on the transfer form. You do not need to fill in the online form in addition to submitting this form if you select the current semester option.
How many TFCs can I redeem?
School administrators and school associates (teachers who have hosted a student teacher in their classroom) can redeem up to 10 credits per semester, up to a lifetime limit of 30 credits.
Non-school associates (teachers who have not taken on a student teacher from SFU or non-teachers who meet other transfer criteria) can redeem up to 4 credits per semester, up to a lifetime limit of 12 credits.
I have sent in my form, when will the credits be applied to my account?
You will receive a confirmation email once your request has been processed (during periods of high volume this can take up to a week). Please note that to ensure delivery of this email, it is recommended you use your SFU or school district email, as other email clients may flag the confirmation as spam. The credits will then be applied to your Student Account at the end of the 3rd week of semester. If you will be paying your tuition before then, we recommend that you deduct the amount that you will be receiving in TFCs from your total due and pay the remainder.
When do TFCs expire?
TFCs expire two years from when they are first issued. Expiration dates cannot be extended past this date.
Receiving Tuition Fee Credits (TFCs)
Tuition fee credits are issued to school associates, in-school coordinators, and school administrators at the end of the semester in which the school associate hosted the student teacher (usually mid- to late- December or April depending on whether they are for the fall or spring semester). School associates, in-school coordinators, and school administrators will be sent a TFC notice via email.
School associates, in-school coordinators, and school administrators receive tuition fee credits as follows:
EDUC 401/402 Experiences
- School associates receive 4 TFCs in total for mentorship of a student teacher during the two phases of 401/402 Experiences. If more than one school associate is involved in the mentorship of one student teacher, the TFCs are divided amongst the teachers involved.
- In schools where more than three student teachers are placed during the 401/402 School/Community Experiences Phase, the staff member that assumes the in-school coordinator role receives 2 TFCs.
- School administrators receive 4 TFCs in total for the semester.
EDUC 405 Practicum:
- 4 TFCs are provided to school associates for mentorship of a student teacher. If more than one school associate is involved in the mentorship of one student teacher, the TFCs are divided amongst the teachers involved.
- School administrators receive 4 TFCs in total for the semester.
Redeeming Tuition Fee Credits
- TFCs can be redeemed by filling out the following online form. Please note that if the credits are being transferred to you, there is a separate transfer form that you will need to fill out. This form can be found below.
- School associates and school administrators are allowed to redeem a lifetime maximum of 30 credit hours. There is a 10 credit limit per semester.
- Teachers who have not been a school associate and non-teachers who have been transferred credits through one of the other transfer recipient categories may redeem a lifetime maximum of 12 credits (with a 4 credit limit per semester).
TFCs are posted to student accounts after the 3rd week of class. You will receive a confirmation email usually within 5 working days after submitting your request. Outstanding account balances not covered by the value of the redeemed credits are subject to a late fee penalty of 2% per month.
When a transfer occurs, the original TFC is cancelled and a new one is issued in the recipient's name with a new TFC number. On the transfer form, you have the option of having the credits applied to the current semester or transferred to you and saved under your name in our database but redeemed at a later date.
Transfer Policy:
Effective October 19, 2015, TFCs can now be transferred to:
Spouses or dependents
Definitions for dependents and spouses are as follows:
Spouse - either a person to whom the employee is legally married and lives with, or a person who, although not legally married to, has co-habited with the employee for at least twelve months in a marriage-like relationship, and is known in the community as the employee's spouse or partner. The spouse may be a person of the same or opposite gender.
Child - a child or stepchild of the employee who is under twenty-five years of age on the first day of classes of the semester. The benefit will expire at the end of the current academic semester should the child become twenty-five years of age. The child must be mainly dependent upon the employee for financial support.
Colleagues currently working in your school
For this purpose, colleagues include enrolling or non-enrolling teachers on temporary or continuing contracts or administrators. We hope that recipients of transferred credits will consider being school associates in the future.
Promising Educators
TFCs may also be gifted to a promising educator who meets the following criteria:
a) is a certified teacher without a continuing contract working in any school district (e.g., a teacher on a temporary contract or a Teacher-on-Call); or
b) is a SFU student, in any Faculty, who is an aspiring teacher.
- Those gifting TFCs to a Promising Educator are providing encouragement to current colleagues not on continuing contracts or future educators who demonstrate a strong commitment to being or becoming outstanding teachers.
A maximum of 4 credits per semester may be redeemed by teachers who have not been a school associate or non-teachers at SFU to a lifetime maximum of 12 credit hours.
Transfer Form:
Download the TFC transfer form (link below) and forward it along with the original TFC notice.
Download the TFC transfer form:
Scan and email the completed form to:
Or mail the completed form to:
Sarah Lison c/o Professional Programs
Faculty of Education
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6
Please direct any questions about tuition fee credits to educcert@sfu.ca.
