Student Fees and Refunds Policy

To articulate a structure for establishing, approving, and operationalizing student-related fees each academic year at Cambrian College (“the College”), and for the communication, assessment, payment, and refund of these fees.

All full-time and part-time domestic and international students registered in a post‑secondary, continuing education, or apprenticeship program or course.

Academic year: the period of time that runs from September to August.

Ancillary fee: fees charged to support services and activities distinct from academic programming or general overhead for the institution, as defined by the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES). Ancillary Fees may be at the program or institutional levels.

Domestic student: a citizen of Canada or a Permanent Resident or a spouse or dependent of either, as defined by MCURES.

Full-time student: an individual who is enrolled in a college program of instruction for at least 70 percent of the student contact hours or 66 2/3 percent of the courses required for the program of instruction in a given semester or reporting period, as defined by MCURES.

International student: a foreign national who is authorized under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) to enrol as a student in an educational institution in Canada.

MCURES reporting eligible student: a student who must be reported under MCURES’ Enrolment Reporting and Audit Operating Procedures. This includes funding and non‑funding eligible students in funding and non-funding eligible programs and courses.

Part-time student: an individual who is enrolled in one or more courses but in less than 70 percent of the student contact hours or 66 2/3 percent of the courses required for a full-time program of instruction in a given semester or reporting period, as defined by MCURES.

Student’s attendance rate: the calculated status of a student as full-time or part-time.

Student fee: tuition and ancillary fees charged to a student at the point of registration.

Student in overload: a student registered in credit hours over and above normal course load for the full-time program and semester in which the student is registered.

Tuition fee: fees charged to students representing their contribution towards the operating and capital costs of academic program delivery and general overhead for the institution, as defined by MCURES.

1. Establishing and increasing fees

1.1. Tuition fees are set in accordance with Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES) Tuition Fee Framework and are approved by the College’s Senior Team and Board of Governors.

1.2. Compulsory ancillary fees are established in accordance with the MCURES’ Compulsory Ancillary Fee Protocol.

1.3. All fees are established on an academic year cycle.

1.4. All fees charged on a compulsory basis to students are set and/or increased within MCURES’ Binding Policy Directive (BPD) and Reporting Operating Procedures.

1.5. International tuition fees are inclusive of the International Student Recovery fee and the Municipal Tax Recovery fee.

1.6. Ancillary fees are reviewed annually and any requests for increases to existing fees or the introduction of new fees are, where applicable, reviewed within MCURES’ BPD and the parameters of the Compulsory Ancillary Fee Protocol Agreement.

1.7. With the exception of health insurance for students, all ancillary fees are established at the same rate for both domestic and international students.

1.8. Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition fees are established on a per-challenge basis within MCURES’ BPD.

1.9. Apprenticeship fees are established per the Ministry of Labour, Training, and Skills Development directives.

1.10. Upgrading fees are established per the MCURES directives.

1.11. Contract training fees are outside the scope of MCURES’ BPD and are established on a cost-recovery basis.

2. Communication

2.1. Tuition and ancillary fees are published on the College’s public web site before the earliest deadline to confirm an offer of admission for the Fall term of each academic year.

2.2. Tuition and ancillary fee amounts may be presented as an estimate in cases where fees have not yet been approved by Cambrian’s Board of Governors.

3. Fee assessments and charges

3.1. At the point of registration, student fees are assessed based on a student’s registration details and attendance rate.

3.2. For the purpose of fee assessments, a student’s attendance rate is calculated as full-time or part-time using the MCURES’ definitions.

3.3. Full-time fee assessments and charges are term-based and part-time fee assessments and charges are credit- and/or course-based.

3.4. At the point of assessment, the fees are charged to the student’s account.

3.5. A student in overload registration status is assessed and charged additional tuition based on the number of credits in overload.

4. Tuition exemptions

4.1. International Students: Students granted certain citizenship statuses prior to the end of the published 10th business day of a term (“Day 10” in the academic schedule) under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, S.C. 2001, c. 27 may be exempt from paying international fees. These statuses are defined in MCURES’ BPD and official documentation is required. When an exemption is confirmed, these students shall be assessed at the domestic student rate.

4.2. Student with Permanent Disabilities: Students with a documented permanent disability that requires a reduced course load as a learning accommodation may be eligible to pay $20 per course once they have paid the equivalent tuition as a student completing the program in the same timeframe. This learning accommodation must be documented through the Glenn Crombie Centre.

4.3. Employees: Current employees may be eligible for a tuition fee subsidy as defined in their Collective Agreement or as otherwise confirmed by the Human Resources department.

5. Fee waivers and exceptions

5.1. Fees cannot be waived or be different than the approved fee schedule unless under exceptional circumstances. Exceptions must be reviewed and approved by the Registrar.

6. Fee payments

6.1. Fees are due within the timeframes established by the College and, where applicable, in alignment with MCURES directives.

6.2. Regardless of payment deferral arrangements, students are responsible for paying all fees in full, including their tuition deposit.

6.3. Any tuition deposits paid reduce the amount of tuition owing for the term.

7. Fee payment deferrals

7.1. Students who cannot pay their fees by the published deadline due to exceptional circumstances may be eligible to enter into a Fee-Payment Agreement to defer the payment of their fees.

7.2. Students who can demonstrate that their fees will be paid by a third party, (e.g., a sponsor), or who have been approved for financial aid (e.g., through a provincial Student Assistance Program (e.g. OSAP), may be eligible for a fee payment deferral. Documentation/proof is required.

7.3. Any fees not covered by OSAP or sponsors are the responsibility of the student.

8. Non-Payment

8.1. All fees must be paid by the due dates as outlined in the academic schedule. If fees remain unpaid after the published deadlines, restrictions may be imposed, including the withholding of transcripts and credentials or restricting access to systems and/or services.

8.2. Late fees are applied to accounts with fees owing after published deadlines.

8.3. Outstanding student accounts will be forwarded to a third-party collection agency via the College’s Finance department.

9. Refunds

9.1. Refund eligibility is based on key dates in the academic cycle and follow the guidelines of MCURES’ BPD. Students who withdraw from a funding-eligible program within the first ten business days of the term will be refunded full fees paid for the current term, less the non-refundable tuition portion of these fees or fees paid, as well as any fees paid in advance for subsequent terms.

9.2. Requests for refunds after the refund deadline or falling outside of the traditional program and course delivery dates will be considered under the Withdrawal and Refund Procedure.

9.3. Refund requests from sponsored students and OSAP recipients will be processed under the Withdrawal and Refund Procedure.

9.4. The College will refund all fees paid towards an intake that is suspended or cancelled by the College.

Vice-President, Human Resources, Student Services and International is responsible for:

• Ensuring the development, review, and availability of this policy and associated procedure.
• Ensuring implementation and compliance of the Honorary Degree process.
• Overseeing the PSAC and its role within the Compulsory Ancillary Fee Protocol Agreement.
• Consulting with the Registrar on proposed tuition fee increases and changes to the compulsory institutional ancillary fees.
• Approving and presenting the package prepared by the Registrar to the Board of Governors.

Students are responsible for:

• Being aware of their responsibilities regarding paying fees and seeking clarification where unsure.
• Following fee payment, withdrawal and refund deadlines and processes.
• Being proactive in securing funds and/or sponsorship prior to fee-related deadlines.
• Providing requested documentation/proof in support of exemptions, refund requests and fee payment deferrals.

Office of the Registrar is responsible for:

• Interpreting and operationalizing MCURES’ Binding Policy Directive and Operating Procedures.
• Annually collecting changes to the fee schedules for courses and programs.
• Ensuring compliancy to this policy and other fee- and refund-related directives.
• Preparing the Student Fee package to be taken to the President’s Student Advisory Council (PSAC) and to the Board of Governors for approval.
• Communicating the approved and official fee schedule within required timeframes.
• Operationalizing the Student Fee assessments in accordance with official fee schedules.
• Collecting fees during registration cycles.
• Overseeing the processing of refunds and reviewing and approving exceptions to the policy.
• Overseeing the fee payment deferral process and approving the list of exceptional circumstances leading to fee payment deferral agreements.

Accounting department is responsible for:

• Collecting and applying payments to the student accounts.
• Processing refunds back to the original payment method.
• Approving study visa rejection refunds.

Deans/Directors are responsible for:

• Reviewing compulsory ancillary fees within their mandate on an annual basis and confirming currency of amount and rationale for the fees.
• Consulting with the Registrar on fees that are not tuition and ancillary

Senior Team is responsible for:

• Annually reviewing and approving the proposed tuition and ancillary fees.

PSAC is responsible for:

• Reviewing proposed compulsory ancillary fees and making appropriate recommendations to the President.

• Withdrawal and Refund Procedure