Registration of students in research programs who are defending and/or depositing
All graduate students must register until actual completion of all coursework and research requirements for their degree:
- Students must be registered in the term they are completing the final oral defense; AND
- Students must be registered in the term they are completing the final submission (deposit) with Graduate Studies after the defense.
- Review the Phase I FAQs, including "Do I need to pay tuition fees if I am planning to meet Phase I?".
Students will not be permitted to defend and/or deposit unless they are registered for the term in which they are defending and/or depositing. Use the following to determine which term(s) you must be registered for:
- you must be registered in the Winter term if you defend or deposit from January 1 to April 30; and
- you must be registered in the Summer term if you defend or deposit from May 1 to August 31; and
- you must be registered in the Fall term if you defend or deposit from September 1 to the end of December (the exact December date varies each year depending on the holiday closure and will be posted each year on the Important Dates webpage).
Tuition Refunds (Phase I and Phase II) - Eligibility
Tuition refunds are available at the beginning of each term for graduate students in research programs who have completed all coursework and other program requirements in previous terms except for the final oral defense and/or deposit. To be eligible for tuition refunds, students must be registered in both the previous and current term in one of the following:
- Doctoral dissertation - course number xxxx-9980
- Master's thesis - course number xxxx-8970
- Master's major paper - course number xxxx-8960
- English creative writing project - course number ENGL-8940
- Kinesiology internship or Political Science internship - course number xxxx-8950.
Each term there are two tuition refund deadlines:
Phase I (100% tuition refund)
Students who complete all degree requirements by the Phase I deadline, including the final deposit of their dissertation/thesis/major paper document in the Graduate Studies office, will be eligible for 100% tuition refund for that term.
- The student must have completed all coursework and other program requirements in previous terms
- The student must be registered in the current term only in one of the following:
- Doctoral dissertation - course number xxxx-9980
- Master's thesis - course number xxxx-8970
- Master's major paper - course number xxxx-8960
- English creative writing project - course number ENGL-8940
- Kinesiology internship or Political Science internship - course number xxxx-8950.
- The student must also be registered in the previous term (e.g. to be eligible for Phase I tuition refund for Winter term 2023 the student must also have been registered in the Fall term 2022).
The student must be registered in the term in which they are completing the final oral defense, and in the term in which they are completing the deposit, even if they expect to complete by the Phase I deadline for that term. Provided the student meets the Phase I deadline and eligibility requirements, the registration for the current term will be removed along with any fees for that term.
Fees are assessed upon registration and payable by the posted due date for that term. If a student has registered and paid the fees for that term, all fees will be refunded provided the student has met the Phase I deadline and requirements. If a student has registered but has chosen not to pay the fees for that term, all fees for that term will be removed, including any interest for unpaid tuition for that term, provided the student has met the Phase I deadline and eligibility requirements. However, if a student has chosen NOT to pay tuition fees and is later unable to meet the Phase I deadline and requirements, the student will be responsible for tuition fees plus any applicable interest for unpaid tuition.
Scholarship holders must maintain fulltime registration throughout the duration of the scholarship. If a student completes the degree requirements within the Phase I tuition refund deadline their registration in the current term will be removed therefore they will not be eligible to receive a scholarship for that term.
If you met Phase I and you have paid tuition fees for that term, the Faculty of Graduate Studies will request a tuition refund be processed in accordance with the tuition refund policy. The refund process is initiated by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and not by the student.
After the cashier's office has processed the tuition refund request, the refunded amount will be credited back to your student account.
When you see the credit has been posted on your account, you can request to obtain the refunded amount - review the information on the cashier's website about how to request a refund.
Phase II (50% tuition refund)
Students who have missed the Phase I deadline (100% tuition refund) will remain registered in the current term.
If the student completes all degree requirements by the Phase II deadline (including the final deposit of their dissertation/thesis/major paper document in the Graduate Studies office), they will receive 50% refund of the base tuition fees for the current term. Note that any interest for unpaid tuition for the current term will NOT be removed.
- The student must have completed all coursework and other program requirements in previous terms
- The student must be registered for the current term only in one the following:
- Doctoral dissertation - course number xxxx-9980
- Master's thesis - course number xxxx-8970
- Master's major paper - course number xxxx-8960
- English creative writing project - course number ENGL-8940
- Kinesiology internship or Political Science internship - course number xxxx-8950.
- The student must also be registered in the previous term (e.g. to be eligible for Phase II tuition refund for Winter term 2023 the student must also have been registered in Fall term 2022).
Scholarship holders who complete the degree requirements within the Phase II tuition refund deadline and maintain their scholarship eligibility will be able to retain their scholarship for the term.
If you met Phase II and you have paid tuition fees for that term, the Faculty of Graduate Studies will request a tuition refund be processed in accordance with the tuition refund policy. The refund process is initiated by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and not by the student.
After the cashier's office has processed the tuition refund request, the refunded amount will be credited back to your student account.
When you see the credit has been posted on your account, you can request to obtain the refunded amount - review the information on the cashier's website about how to request a refund.
Phase I & Phase II dates are posted each term on the important dates for graduate students.
Tuition refund deadlines for Winter term 2023:
Phase I: January 26, 2023
Last day for completion of all requirements for graduate degrees under Phase I for Winter term 2023. Students who complete all requirements, including deposit with the Office of Graduate Studies, for major papers, theses, and dissertations by Phase I are eligible for a 100% tuition refund for Winter term 2023, provided that the student was registered in the previous term (Fall term 2022) and that all other requirements for the degree are already complete.
The major paper, thesis, or dissertation final grade will be assigned to the previous term, i.e. Fall term 2022.
Phase II: February 16, 2023
Last day for completion of all requirements for graduate degrees under Phase II for Winter term 2023. Students who have completed all requirements, including deposit with the Office of Graduate Studies, for major papers, theses, and dissertations by this date are eligible for a 50% base tuition refund for Winter term 2023, provided that the student was registered in the previous term (Fall term 2022) and that all other requirements for the degree are already complete.
The major paper, thesis, or dissertation final grade will be assigned to the current term, i.e. Winter term 2023.