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Fee Appeal

The Office of the Registrar (RO) is responsible for receiving tuition fees, ancillary fees and other related fees from students enrolled in degree programs, certificate programs, and individual courses. The RO, The Chang School of Continuing Education and the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies have established and published fee payment deadlines and course drop dates (some of which allow for partial refunds of fees).

This process has been developed to provide clear guidelines related to the review and decision-making processes for appeals requesting fee reversals and/or refunds.

The fee payment deadline varies depending on the level of study. For further information, please visit Tuition and Fees Deadlines.

Definitions

For the purpose of this process:

  • Refund means to reimburse a student for fees already paid.
  • Reversal means to remove the posting of the fee to a student account that the student has not yet paid.

Objectives

  1. To clearly identify the parameters and processes related to the submission and review of student fee appeals at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).
  2. To ensure fair and consistent guidelines for decision-makers related to student fee appeals.
  3. To protect the financial integrity of the institution and the appropriate application of fee payment rules and deadlines.

Application

This Fee Appeal option is available to students at the university who are charged fees related to enrolment in their academic program or individual courses. Responsibility for the application and administration of the Fee Appeal process lives with the Registrar's Office. Periodic review and revisions of this process are the responsibility of the Registrar.

  1. All students are responsible to pay all applicable fees for the courses/programs in which they enrol.
  2. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with fee payment policies, fee payment deadlines, drop dates and refund policies as they pertain to the courses/programs in which they are registered. Appeals will not be heard on the grounds that the student was not aware of, or misinterpreted, university policies, including course drop deadlines and related fee policies.
  3. In rare circumstances a student may have appropriate grounds for an appeal to have fees either reversed or refunded, in part or in full. They may be considered on the following grounds:
    1. Medical Grounds: Normally would include the unanticipated onset of physical or psychological illness, condition or crises. Requires that documentation* from a physician or psychologist be submitted to support the claims made in the appeal.
    2. Compassionate Grounds: May be related to unanticipated circumstance such as eviction, death of a family member, or other life crisis. Supporting documentation is also required.
    3. Procedural Grounds: Error made by a TMU staff member or department that resulted in fees being posted inappropriately. Supporting documentation is required where possible.
  4. Fee refund appeals will not normally be heard past six months after the semester in which the fees were posted.
  5. Fee appeals will not be considered for courses that the student has completed and or intends to complete and expects to retain course credit. Fee appeals will only be considered for completed courses where the student has support from their program and the Registrar for retroactive withdrawal from the course.
  6. Fees that were paid through OSAP, Bursary, Sponsorship or External agency may be refunded back to the funder rather than the student.
  7. If a student's fee appeal is approved and they have not opted out of the TMSU or TMAPS health and/or dental plan, TMU will connect with the third party of the health and dental plan to confirm if the student has submitted any benefit claims. No personal health information will be exchanged. If the student has accessed benefits, the fees charged for the student's health insurance will not be reversed.
  8. Refund requests for courses dropped after two-thirds of the course has been delivered (e.g. after week eight of a 12-week course) will not normally be considered.
  9. The decisions of the Student Fee Appeal Committee will be final.
  10. Students may be eligible for reconsideration of their appeal decision if they have new information to share that was not included as part of the initial fee appeal submission, or if a procedural error took place during the review of the initial fee appeal submission.

*Students are expected to submit the Student Health Certificate (external link, opens in new window)  if making a fee appeal on medical grounds. Alternatively, a student may submit a letter supplied by the physician or psychologist which contains the same information requested in the form.

  1. Students may submit appeals for fees that they have been charged by completing the Fee Appeal Submission Form available through MyServiceHub under the eForms Center.
  2. Students will receive an email receipt once they have submitted their eForm.
  3. Fee appeals will be reviewed by the Student Fee Appeal Committee. The composition of the fee appeal committee is as follows:
    1. Assistant Registrar, Student Financial Services (Committee Chair)
    2. Manager, Student Fees (Committee Secretary)
    3. Representative from Financial Services
    4. Representative from The Chang School of Continuing Education
    5. Representative from the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
    6. Representative from the Office of the Vice Provost, Students
  4. The Student Fee Appeal Committee will meet once per month to review appeals that have been submitted since the previous meeting. At some points in the year if volume of appeals warrants it the committee may need to meet more than once that month.
  5. Appellants will not be permitted to make in-person presentations to the Committee.
  6. The Committee can decide to defer decision if it has questions for the appellant, or others related to the appeal or wishes to request additional documentation. In these cases the appeal will be brought forward to the next Committee meeting.
  7. The Committee members will be provided with the appeal material before the meeting for review in a format that is password protected and adheres to appropriate guidelines that protect privacy.
  8. The Committee Secretary will record each of the decisions made by the committee and rationale for the decision and will communicate the decision to the appellant within five business days of the meeting where the decision was made.
  9. The Committee will annually review all fee policies and deadlines and have training related to FIPPA expectations.

Second Level Appeals

Students who have completed a fee appeal and received an outcome may complete a second level appeal only if they have new information to present that was not previously considered in the first level appeal. This new information must be added to the Second Level Appeal Form, which is shared with students in the Fee Appeal Decision email (where applicable). The Second Level Appeal committee does not provide a second opinion or review of first level fee appeal outcomes.

Fee Appeal Submission eForm FAQs

For up to five years after your last class enrolment, you will have access to my.torontomu.ca (opens in new window)  using your TMU username and password. Even alumni who have never activated their account are eligible to access MyServiceHub, but they must first activate their MyServiceHub account.

If you do not have a TMU email address on file, the personal email address on file will be used. For information on how to update your email address, please visit the Personal Information page.

The Student Fee Appeal Committee meets every third Tuesday of the month. You will receive an email with the appeal decision and rationale within five business days of the meeting.

Note: You may also review the appeal decision in the eForm Center, however the details surrounding the decision will only be communicated via email.

No, unfortunately you may not edit your Fee Appeal form once it has been submitted. Be sure to review your Fee Appeal form and ensure you have attached all necessary supporting documentation prior to submitting.

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