SM

Fee deferral

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Tuition & Fees Payment Deferral | Applying for a Fee Deferral


Tuition & Fees Payment Deferral

Students in a degree program 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. All requests are student-initiated using the "Defer Payment of Tuition and Fees" option through the Financial Aid & Awards Menu on Minerva.

Requests are automatically 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. No notification is sent to the student confirming that the request has been received, however a “pre-authorized credit memo” for the authorized amount appears on the Account Summary by Term on Minerva the next business day. The e-bill will not be reissued. The entire account balance is still due, we will simply not charge interest on the deferred amount. The amount that needs to be paid is the amount due less the pre-authorized credit memo amount. Once the deferral has been ended, both interest and a Late Payment Fine will be charged, should the account not be paid by the due date following notification of the balance due. Note that fee deferrals automatically end when the balance on the account has reached $100 or less.

A financial hold will be placed shortly after the deferral ends, preventing students from obtaining official academic transcripts and from accessing Minerva for any registration functions .The length of time that a fee deferral is in effect will depend on the nature of the fee deferral:

Reason for deferral Deferral effective to Fees Due Percent of fees deferred*
Graduate Students – External Funding Agency where awards are administered at SM (e.g. NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR, MS Society) end of November early January 100%
Graduate Students – Income from TA'ship or RA'ship or Course Lecturer paid through SM end of November early January 100%
Graduate Students ‐ Awards paid through SM in installments (i.e. stipends or fellowships) end of November early January 100%
Graduate Students ‐ Quebec Agency (i.e. FQRNT, FQRSC, FRSQ) end of October end of November 100%
Government Student Aid - Canadian (federal and/or provincial) or US end of October end of November 100%
International Students (non-U.S.) – Experiencing delays in transferring funds end of August end of September 50%
Reason for deferral Deferral effective to Fees Due Percent of fees deferred*
Graduate Students – External Funding Agency where awards are administered at SM (e.g. NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR, MS Society) end of March end of April 100%
Graduate Students – Income from TA'ship or RA'ship or Course Lecturer paid through SM end of March end of April 100%
Graduate Students ‐ Awards paid through SM in installments (i.e. stipends or fellowships) end of March end of April 100%
Graduate Students ‐ Quebec Agency (i.e. FQRNT, FQRSC, FRSQ) end of February end of March 100%
Government Student Aid - Canadian (federal and/or provincial) or US end of February end of March 100%
International Students (non-U.S.) – Experiencing delays in transferring funds early January end of January 50%
Reason for deferral Deferral effective to Fees Due Percent of fees deferred*
Graduate Students – External Funding Agency where awards are administered at SM (e.g. NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR, MS Society) end of July end of August 100%
Graduate Students – Income from TA'ship or RA'ship or Course Lecturer paid through SM end of July end of August 100%
Graduate Students ‐ Awards paid through SM in installments (i.e. stipends or fellowships) end of July end of August 100%
Graduate Students ‐ Quebec Agency (i.e. FQRNT, FQRSC, FRSQ) end of July end of August 100%
Government Student Aid - Canadian (federal and/or provincial) or US end of July end of August 100%
International Students (non-U.S.) – Experiencing delays in transferring funds end of May end of June 50%


Applying for a fee deferral

Students may apply for a fee deferral by clicking on “Defer Payment of Tuition and Fees” in the Financial Aid/Award menu on Minerva and selecting the category that applies to their situation. All applicants will be verified after the fact to ensure they have reported their situation accurately. Student Aid/Graduate Funding reserves the right to cancel fee deferrals should they find that students misrepresented their situation. Interest and late fees may be retroactively applied in this scenario.

The Minerva application for deferral of tuition fees form is available in mid-July for the Fall term, mid-December for the Winter term, and early April for the Summer term. Students who apply up to the fee deadline can be assured that the deferral will be in effect prior to interest being charged on their account. Please note that students who apply late may not request cancellation of interest. Students must complete the application for deferral of fees each term.

* A fee deferral generally covers the amount of the Fall (Winter or Summer) term charges, which include tuition, administrative and certain academic fees and health and dental insurance. Charges not covered by the tuition deferral include, but are not limited to, housing charges, meal plans, printing charges or any other amounts owing that are not considered registration charges.Interest on outstanding already-billed amounts will continue to be charged on a monthly basis excluding amounts covered by the student aid tuition deferral.

Example:

Description Fees Amount
September e-bill charges: Tuition: $1,000.00
Fees: $256.00
Health and Dental Insurance: $184.60
Rent: $750.00
Meal Plan: $2,650.00
Total $4,840.60
The deferred amount* appears in the form of memo transactions called "Pre-Authorized Credits": $1,440.60
The balance for the Meal Plan and Rent (not covered by the deferral) is: $3,400.00
If by the due date on the September e-bill the Meal plan and Rent have not been paid, then there would be interest charged as follows: $42.16 on the total of $3,400.00 ($3,400 x 0.0124)

* This example excludes the deferral granted tointernational students who are experiencing delays in transferring their funds to the University and which is 50% of tuition and registration fees.

Students are reminded that tuition and student housing fees are the first items to be covered by financial aid received from any source. Students are expected to pay their tuition promptly upon receipt of any assistance.If you decide to cancel your fee deferral because you decide to pay your account in full, do not cancel the deferral until you see the payment has been processed on your account. Once your account is at zero, you may choose to cancel the deferral.

Graduate students who have deferrals for the term due to income/awards being paid through installments are strongly encouraged to establish a regular payment schedule through internet banking arrangements in order to avoid a large debt at the end of term. Students have typically found it useful to make this schedule coincide with payments from payroll and/or awards.

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