You may petition academic course related fees (tuition) for reasons of medical, compassion (i.e. death in the family) or other compelling, extenuating circumstances.

Be aware, however, that you are still required to pay your student account by the published deadlines regardless of whether you have submitted a petition or not. In other words, a Financial Petition does NOT put your student account on hold and you will be responsible for any accrued interest.

The financial petition is for tuition charges only and the course/s for which you are requesting a refund must be officially dropped from your record before filing a petition. The entire process takes approximately eight weeks from the date received. The sooner that you can submit your petition, the better!  

The main factor the Financial Petitions Committee will consider in your petition is whether the circumstances that prevented you from finishing the classes could have been conceivably known when you registered for the class, or before the any of the refund dates. If the answer is yes, then your petition will likely not be successful.  

Finally, try to be very precise about any changes you made to your enrolment status through the online system. Every time you do a transaction on the system it keeps a log of what you did and when. Many a student has tried to convince the University that the computer lies, but the truth is, there is a tendency to believe the machine. If you are unsure as to when you made transactions, you can view your transaction history by logging on to the Passport- York system. 

Process 

1. Pick up a financial petition form from Student Financial Services located in suite N201 of the Bennett Centre for Student Services, or by downloading it from the SFS (Student Financial Services) section of the York University Website (www.yorku.ca). 

2. Read the guidelines carefully to determine your eligibility to submit a financial petition. The Committee follows the rules outlined in the most current Lecture

Schedule so bone up on those rules. Follow instructions outlined on the form (fill out the form, attach supporting documentation, submit it to Student Financial Services).

3. Write a letter to explain the reasons why you orignally enrolled in the courses; what prevented you from completing the courses; why it was not possible to drop the courses before the financial drop deadline; and why you feel you should be allowed a refund.

The Petitions Secretary prepares the file for the Petitions Committee which is made up of representatives of the University’s administration and a Student member. If your petition is similar to a previous petition that the committee has already decided on, the petitions secretary may simply apply the same outcome to yours.

Possible outcomes may include:  

• full financial reimbursement

• partial financial reimbursement

• permission to take the course again for free

• a tuition credit toward you next year 

4. Once the Petitions Committee makes its decision, the results will be mailed to you.  

5. If your petition is successful, any adjustment to your student account will automatically be made.

6. If your petition is not successful, you have the right to submit an appeal, but only if you have new information and/or documentation that was not submitted in your original petition. The procedure is the same as the previous one. All additional information and/or document- ation will be forwarded to an appeals committee along

with the original submission for their review. If you feel that your petition did not get an adequate hearing the first time, and you have new information or evidence of a