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Tuition Refund Requests

COVID Update:

Refund requests and appeals based on financial need alone will not be considered by the EAC, including financial need associated with COVID-19. 

As was communicated by the university when the WD deadline was extended, no additional refunds will be granted for withdrawals during the extended withdrawal period if you elected to withdraw instead of transitioning to online coursework. If you withdrew for other eligible reasons, please apply for a tuition refund by submitting the appropriate webform: Undergraduate | Graduate. 

If you are a student and are facing financial difficulty, please reach out to Financial Aid and Awards for advising about supports available to you: https://www.sfu.ca/students/financialaid.html.

Please note Health and Counselling Services continues to offer support services: https://www.sfu.ca/students/health/support/.

More information about the University’s response to COVID-19 can be found at: https://www.sfu.ca/students/support.html.

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

Criteria and Time Limit for Tuition Refund Requests

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

  1. The student must apply within one calendar year of the date the course(s) were taken.
  2. If you are requesting a tuition refund for multiple terms, then you will need to submit a separate application for each term. 
  3. The student's request is based on one of the eligible reasons per the criteria below.
  4. Only students with active SFU computing IDs will be able to open the appropriate Tuition Refund or Appeal 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, WD, or WE:

Withdrawals Under Extenuating Circumstances (WE)

A decision regarding a 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.

Retroactive WEs and Tuition Refund Requests

 If a student receives a retroactive WE for courses taken in the previous calendar year and wishes to request a refund through our office, please submit a tuition appeal. 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 health 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, 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:
  • Unexpected change in conditions of employment.
  • Unanticipated transfers or deployments for military and first responder personnel.
  • Administrative or system errors.

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. 

Requests will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, based on the application deadlines indicated below. Decisions on appeals submitted before a document deadline are typically available within 4 - 6 weeks of the document deadline. However, factors in individual cases may delay a decision. Please ensure that all documentation is submitted at the time of the request application.  

Please note: Due to a high demand in requests, the timeline to process a tuition refund request is 6 - 8 weeks. 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

Students have up to one month following the receipt of the result of their Tuition Refund Request to submit an appeal of the decision. Students who wish to appeal the decision of their tuition refund request can do so by filling out the appeal application form. 

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 then 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. 

Application Deadlines

If you would like your tuition refund request or appeal to be heard at a meeting, submit your application along with all required documents by the application deadline stated below: 

Month Application Deadline
January 2023 January 11 at 9:00 am
February 2023 February 15 at 9:00 am
March 2023 March 15 at 9:00 am
April 2023 April 12 at 9:00 am
May 2023 May 10 at 9:00 am
June 2023 June 7 at 9:00 am
July 2023 July 19 at 9:00 am
August 2023 August 16 at 9:00 am
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

Turnaround time: Depending on the number of appeals received, the goal for the Enrollment Appeal Committee is to make decisions on appeals submitted with complete documentation within 6 - 8 weeks of submission. Any applicable adjustments to student accounts will be processed within two weeks from the date the decision letter is issued.