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Tuition Refund Requests

Student Declaration and Responsibility:

Upon enrolling in classes, a student has initiated a contract with the University and is bound by the following declaration:

“I hereby accept and submit myself to the policies, rules and regulations of Simon Fraser University and any amendments thereto, which may be made while I am a student of the University, and solely to the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada, as applicable, and I promise to observe and be bound by the same and, in any litigation, to attorn to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of the Province of British Columbia or Canada, as applicable.” (www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/fees-and-regulations/student-contract/student-declaration.html) 

Space in SFU courses is limited and the tuition refund schedule is designed to discourage a student from holding space in course(s) that they eventually do not use. After the start of classes, courses that are dropped may be subject to a fee penalty dependent on the date of the drop. There are deadlines for a 100%, 75%, or 50% refund of tuition before the deadline after which no refund is provided. 

  • Students are considered responsible for knowing and adhering to all deadlines. These deadlines are posted in the Academic Calendar for each semester in advance under the Fees: payment and refund/penalties section of the Student Deadlines website. 
  • To avoid incurring the late fee payment penalties, students are advised to pay their tuition and other fees by the stated tuition deadline date. If you have concerns about interest charges, or are encountering difficulties in enrollment due to outstanding tuition charges, please contact Student Accounts directly. 

Criteria and Eligibility

In order to be eligible for a tuition refund request, the following must apply:

  1. The student must apply within one calendar year from the term in which the course(s) were taken.
  2. If the tuition refund request is for multiple terms, then separate applications must be submitted for each term.
  3. The student's request is based on one of the eligible reasons per the criteria below.
  4. The student is required to have an active SFU computing ID to submit the appropriate Tuition Refund Request Application.
  5. The course(s) in question must be either dropped, withdrawn (WD on transcript), or withdrawn under extenuating circumstances (WE on transcript).
    • If your course(s) in question are not dropped or withdrawn (WD), a decision regarding a WE or retroactive WE request must be reached before a student can apply for a tuition refund. For more information, please consult the WE website.
    • If you are submitting a tuition refund appeal application following a WE application, you may submit the same Healthcare Provider Statement included with your WE application.
    • Please note that tuition refund requests for retroactive WEs must be received within one calendar year from the last day of classes in the semester for which you have received a WE, regardless of when the WE process is initiated or completed.

    

Eligible Reasons for a Tuition Refund Request

 Medical

Please note, we do not require detailed medical records or the disclosure of a diagnosis, rather the University requires that the form confirm the specific dates on which the student visited the healthcare professional and should include details on the following:

  • The degree to which the health issue (or treatment, in the case of medication, for example) is likely to have affected the student's ability to study, attend classes, or sit examinations;
  • The length of time over which the student's abilities were likely hampered by the condition;
  • The fitness of the student to resume studies.

If the condition began prior to the semester of the tuition refund request, documentation should include an explanation of how the condition has worsened or changed in an unforeseeable way.

Students with pre-existing conditions are expected to work with the resources and supports available to them to develop an academic plan to accommodate their condition and needs.  This includes:  Health and Counselling and the Centre for Accessible Learning for support services.

Required supporting documentation:

Recommended documentation*:

  • A timeline of extenuating circumstances that you feel entitle you to a refund of fees, a brief description of the nature of the circumstances and how they affected your decision to withdraw from the course(s), and the dates when relevant events occurred. 
  • Written communication with instructors or advisors, if applicable.

Compassionate
  • Death of a loved one, including immediate or extended family member, or close friend. 
  • A sudden change in personal or familial responsibilities, such as taking care of a sick loved one or taking over childcare responsibilities for a sick loved one. 
  • Other unanticipated events not mentioned above will be considered, provided there is clear supporting documentation.

Required supporting documentation*:

  • A death certificate or obituary in English (or an official English translation) is required as documentation. If these documents cannot be obtained, please contact our office at irreac@sfu.ca.
  • A timeline of extenuating circumstances that you feel entitle you to a refund of fees, a brief description of the nature of the circumstances and how they affected your decision to withdraw from the course(s), and the dates when relevant events occurred. 

Other exceptional circumstances, including but not limited to:
  • Unanticipated transfers, deployments, or unexpected change in conditions of employment for military and first responder personnel.
  • University administrative or system errors (e.g., unscheduled outages).

Required supporting documentation*:

  • Official letters issued from employers or government organizations.
  • Written communication with or from course instructors, academic or departmental advisors.
  • Travel or flight documentation.
  • Documentation relating to technical issues.
  • A timeline of extenuating circumstances that you feel entitle you to a refund of fees, a brief description of the nature of the circumstances and how they affected your decision to withdraw from the course(s), and the dates when relevant events occurred. 

* Note that there are specific document file types that will be accepted: DOC, DOCX, JPEG, or PDF. Other document file types will be rejected. Failure to include complete official documentation may result in your appeal being delayed or denied.

Ineligible Reasons for a Tuition Refund Request

Financial reasons

 Financial concerns alone are not considered an eligible reason for a refund request. For students facing financial hardship, we encourage connecting with Financial Aid & Awards for advising and support.

Being unaware of tuition refund dates and deadlines

 In order to enrol in courses, students must agree to the Student Declaration and Responsibility to complete enrollment actions. The Student Declaration and Responsibility states that students are responsible for knowing and adhering to all deadlines and policies in reference to enrollment and fees. 

Nonpayment or Nonattendance

 Failure to pay tuition by the tuition payment deadline will not result in an automatic course drop, and failure to pay tuition is not a valid reason for a refund. Students are responsible for all fees incurred by their enrollment actions. Similarly, failure to attend classes in which a student is enrolled is not a valid reason for a refund request.

Issues pertaining to course content or instructor performance

 Please refer concerns and feedback to the relevant department.

Workload, difficulty, or scheduling issues

 It is the student's responsibility to manage their workload, difficulty level, and scheduling needs, and as such these are not considered eligible reasons for a refund request.

Courses not fitting academic program or graduation plan

 It is the student's responsibility to understand requirements and work with advisors if necessary to ensure enrollment decisions are suited to their academic plan.

Overenrolling to attend classes before dropping in order to save seats in preferred classes

 Students should only enrol in courses they intend to take. Please note that students are responsible for tuition and fees for courses that they were enrolled in from the waitlist. For this reason, it is advised that students drop themselves from any waitlist for courses they no longer intend to take. Overenrollment to secure preferred enrollment opportunities is not a valid reason for a refund request.

Tuition Refund Requests

Timeline

Students who feel they are eligible for a tuition refund as per the above criteria may request one using the applicable webform linked below. 

Tuition refund requests will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Typically, it takes 6 - 8 weeks to process a request. Failure to include complete official documentation may result in your request being delayed or denied.

Please note: All communication and notifications will be sent to the SFU email address on file for applicants. 

Tuition Refund Request Application

Undergraduate tuition refund application

Graduate tuition refund application

Appeals

Tuition refund appeals must be submitted within one month from the time the student receives a decision regarding their tuition refund request. Students can initiate an appeal by sending an email to irreac@sfu.ca.  

Appeals must be accompanied with a detailed statement as to why their appeal should be considered and should include any new and substantive supporting documentation. The appeal will be reviewed by the Enrollment Appeal Committee. Depending on the complexity of the appeal and the number of appeals to be reviewed, the Committee will make every effort to have the appeal heard within the following month. 

The decision of the Enrollment Appeal Committee is final. 

Appeal Application Deadlines

If you would like your tuition refund appeal to be reviewed by the Enrollment Appeal Committee, submit your application along with all required documents by the application deadline stated below: 

Month Application Deadline
September 2023 September 13 at 9:00 am
October 2023 October 18 at 9:00 am
November 2023 November 15 at 9:00 am
December 2023 December 6 at 9:00 am
January 2024 January 24 at 9:00 am
February 2024 February 21 at 9:00 am
March 2024 March 13 at 9:00 am
April 2024 April 10 at 9:00 am
May 2024 May 15 at 9:00 am
June 2024 June 12 at 9:00 am
July 2024 July 17 at 9:00 am
August 2024 August 14 at 9:00 am