Fact sheet for Student Funding Administrators
Tuition and Fees Payment Deferral - New Process as of July 2011
In an effort to harmonize graduate and undergraduate processes related to student funding and support, GPS, SSAO, ISS and Student Accounts jointly announce a new Tuition & Fees Payment Deferral process.
Why introduce a change?
Prior to July 2011, the Fee Deferral process was varied and inconsistent:
- It could be initiated by the student, central aid offices or faculties/units without consistent justification.
- Students applying for a deferral in Minerva were obliged to submit a complete financial aid application even if they did not require a McGill bursary or loan.
- The related Graduate Student Installment Plan also triggered deferrals. This process allowed payroll deductions to pay down student fees, but it was cumbersome to complete the paperwork and some requests failed to be processed resulting in unexpected unpaid fees/outstanding balance. Its purpose was further diminished when all award payments moved from Payroll to BSAC.
We’ve changed to one single, simplified process to reduce bureaucracy and improve services to students!
What is the new process?
Students with no prior outstanding tuition/fees may request that payment(s) of tuition and fees be deferred based on self-reported demonstrated sources of funding from the university, government or other external agencies. Such requests will be granted on a term by term basis during which time no interest or late payment charges will be applied on the fees covered by the deferral. The length of time that a fee deferral is in effect will depend on the nature of the fee deferral.
Key information is available on the Student Accounts website including:
- eligible reasons for deferral
- percentage of fees deferred
- length of time a fee deferral is in effect and therefore when fees become due in full
The Graduate Student Installment Plan has been discontinued.
What is your role?
Deferral requests are now initiated directly by students so they may attest to their situation within a secured application. We ask that you direct your eligible students to apply and include information and the above link to fee deferrals within your award communications, when applicable.
We ask that you encourage your students to:
- Carefully read the Deferral website.
- From within the Minerva application, select the first category applicable to their situation as this will create the most beneficial (e.g. longest) deferral.
- As rules vary by deferral type, be informed about when their deferral will expire.
- Think about their cash flow and take advantage of internet banking to schedule regular payments to McGill to coincide with payments they receive from payroll or awards.Contact the Financial Aid office if a student-originated deferral insufficiently meets the student’s financial needs. They will be directed to complete a full in-course Financial Aid application and make an appointment with a SSAO or ISS Financial Aid Counselor.
Students apply for a fee deferral by selecting “Defer Payment of Tuition and Fees” from the Minerva Finance Aid and Awards menu. This is what it looks like from a student perspective:
Once the deferral is processed, it appears to the student under My Financial Aid and Awards:
Questions?
Please contact BSAC Help at student.funding [at] mcgill.ca if you have questions about the Fee Deferral application. Questions about specific fees and amounts may be directed to student.accounts [at] mcgill.ca.
We thank you for your continued partnership!