Withdrawal from the University and/or Courses

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Withdrawal from University | Course Withdrawal | Withdrawal Check List


Withdrawal from the University

  • Students who wish to withdraw from the University should refer to the regulations for University Withdrawal under the University Regulations and Resources section of the current version of McGill's eCalendar available at www.mcgill.ca/study/.

  • Students who have accessed Minerva and who drop their last course during the period between September 1st (January 1st for the Winter term) and the withdrawal with full refund deadline will be deemed to have withdrawn from the University. They will automatically be charged a Registration Cancellation Fee of $200 to cover the administrative costs of registration (the minimum charge does not apply to School of Continuing Studies students, as they are subject to a drop charge on a per course basis). Students who stop attending classes without taking steps to drop their courses will be liable for all resulting tuition and other fees. Students who have withdrawn from the University and who subsequently wish to re-enroll must follow the procedures for re-admission.

  • Newly admitted students who have dropped all courses with full refund:

- will be charged a Registration Cancellation fee in the amount of $200 if they have not been charged an admission deposit;

- will be charged a forfeiture fee for the amount of the admission deposit they paid at the time of confirming their acceptance of the offer of admission on Minerva;

  • Students who wish to withdraw from the University must officially do so according to the regulations of their faculty. These rules may be found in the relevant University calendars.

  • Fees for the term in which the student withdraws are refundable as indicated below:
Fall Term (Winter Term) Refunds
Up to and including
September 19, 2023
(January 23, 2024)
Returning students - 100%*
(less registration cancellation fee of $200)
New students - 100%*
(less registration deposit or $200 whichever is higher)
After September 19, 2023
(January 23, 2024)
No refund

*includes tuition and compulsory student fees.

If students wish to discuss the refund policy applicable to a special case, they must contact the Student Affairs Office in their faculty.

Any request to withdraw after these dates must be submitted for consideration to the Student Affairs Office of a student's faculty. Students who are granted the permission to exceptionally withdraw after these dates will be contacted by Student Accounts to inform them of a refund of Health Insurance premiums. The refunds of the Health Insurance premiums will be processed only if no claims have been made with the insurer. The insurer requires that students must be registered in order to remain eligible for the insurance coverage.

Course Withdrawal

The dates above also apply to individual course withdrawal. Note that withdrawing from one or more courses during the semester may, where applicable, affect your government aid and/or McGill work—study eligibility.

For international students, it may also impact your immigration status and/or permission to work in Canada.

Please ensure that you are aware of any consequences related to this course withdrawal request: consult with Scholarships & Student Aid Office, International Student Services, and/or your Faculty Student Affairs Office, where relevant.

Any request to withdraw from a course after these dates must be submitted for consideration to the Student Affairs Office of a student's faculty. Rules concerning withdrawal are found in the relevant University calendars.

Withdrawal Check List (some items pertain to a course withdrawal)

Students who are considering withdrawal from the University should view the information found below that is pertinent to their particular situation:

Student Accounts

Health/Dental insurance

Students, who withdraw late in the term from the University, may not necessarily be eligible for a fee refund of health insurance charges.  During the period of withdrawal with full refund, the University will confirm with the insurance providers that the various health insurance plans are eligible to be nullified. This may depend on whether or not claims are being made.  After this period, should a student be exceptionally granted a retroactive withdrawal, they will be contacted by Student Accounts to inform them of a refund of Health Insurance premiums. The refunds of the Health Insurance premiums will be processed only if no claims have been made with the insurer. The insurer requires that students must be registered in order to remain eligible for the insurance coverage.

Department fees/Field trip fees

Depending on timing, some of these fees may not be refunded, or may be refunded if materials are returned in good condition.  Check with your department if you wish to know if charges specific to your program/course are refundable.  Information regarding the policy applicable to these fees may also be available on the Fee descriptions page of the Student Accounts website.

Registration Cancellation Charge

To be applied when withdrawal happens as of 1 September for the Fall term, or as of 1 January for the Winter term. If there was an admissions deposit for the term of the withdrawal, the deposit is forfeited and no Registration Cancellation Charge is applied. For the current amount of this charge, please see this website: https://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-fees/non-tuition-charges/other 

Outstanding McGill loans

Any outstanding McGill loans should be repaid. For repayments, please send an email to loansadmin.finserv [at] mcgill.ca with “McGill Loan” in the subject line to arrange a payment plan.

Admission deposit

Any admissions deposit will be forfeited if the withdrawal is in the same term as the deposit. This is independent of the date of withdrawal.  https://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/new-students/deposits

Other deposits

Any other deposits on file are reviewed to determine if they are refundable to the student, refundable to an external scholarship provider or sponsor, or should be forfeited.

External scholarship/bursaries

If there are external scholarships/bursaries in the term of withdrawal, or any subsequent terms, the external scholarship/bursary agency will determine if the award needs to be returned to them. This can potentially create a balance owing to the University on the student fee account.  In this situation, the student must then pay their account in full.

Third Party Sponsorship

Any third party sponsorships will be reviewed to see if the sponsor will pay for any withdrawn courses that are still being charged to the student, or if any penalties (i.e. Registration Cancellation Charge) will be covered. Anything not covered by the sponsor will be the student’s responsibility to pay.

Education  Tuition Assistance

As a condition of receiving the Education Tuition Assistance for McGill employees courses must be successfully completed. If a course is withdrawn after the Withdrawal with Full Refund period and the fees are still being charged, the Education Tuition Assistance amount will be reversed, as the course was not successfully completed. The cost of the course is then the responsibility of the student to pay by the next fee payment deadline.

Housing/Residences

Monthly Rent

Depending on the date that the student vacates their residence/housing, rent for the month will need to be adjusted and future months’ rent will need to be reversed.

Housing deposit

Depending on the date that the student vacates their residence/housing, the housing deposit may be  forfeited, either partially or fully.

Damages charges

There may be damages charges applied to the fee account at the time the student vacates their room, or at a later date.

More information on this topic may be found at: www.mcgill.ca/students/housing/

Food and Dining Services

Depending on the type of meal plan a student is enrolled in, there are different policies on what is eligible to be refunded to the student’s fee account. Please speak with a representative in Food and Dining Services.

More information on this topic may be found at: https://www.mcgill.ca/foodservices/

Scholarships & Student Aid office/Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

If a student has an internal scholarships/bursaries in the term of withdrawal or any subsequent terms, it may be revoked. If the award paid into the student’s fee account, it will be reversed out of the fee account, potentially creating a balance owing to the University. If there were internal awards paid by direct deposit or cheque that will be revoked, these will also be charged to the student’s fee account and potentially create a balance owing the University. The decision to revoke undergraduate and need-based awards is undertaken by Scholarships & Student Aid. The decision to revoke graduate awards is undertaken by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

If the student had a US Direct Loan, US Parent Plus loan, or US Grad Plus Loan in the term of withdrawal, Scholarships & Student Aid will need to do a Return to Title IV calculation to determine if any of the loans needs to be returned by Student Accounts to the US government. This may create a balance owing to the University on the student’s fee account.

More information on this topic may be found at: https://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/ and https://www.mcgill.ca/gps/funding/

Other charges that may affect you

  uPrint charges

Minerva > Student menu > uPrint – Campus Printing Menu

These charges are only applied to the student’s fee account once a month. Students can review any new charges since the last e-bill on Minerva.

 Library fines

Students should review their library account to see if there are any outstanding fines to be paid.


 

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