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Withdraw
Withdrawing for Courses or the Term
If you enroll for a course and subsequently need to withdraw from that course or all courses that term, it is essential that you understand the applicable deadlines, transcript notations, and refund policies.
Graduate students may withdraw from course(s) for any reason up to the ninth week of the term. Withdraws after the second week of the term have financial ramifications as certain fees are not refundable, even when extenuating circumstances exist. You remain liable for outstanding fees following withdrawal. It is the student's responsibility to review the dates and deadlines to understand the refund policy based on the date they are withdrawing from their course(s)/program.
Note the following:
- Retroactive withdrawals are not normally approved.
- If extenuating circumstances exist which require a withdraw after the ninth week, students may apply for a Withdrawal Under Extenuating Circumstances
- If a student has received an award for the term they are withdrawing from all courses please contact gpsaward@sfu.ca.
Drop Deadlines
This is the approximate structure of how Fees & Deadlines are set up on a term basis. If you are dropping the only course enrolled in for the term, a Request for Leave of Absence form is required.
| Week | Notation + Required Forms | Tuition Refund |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | No penalties, restrictions, or notations on record | n/a |
| 3 | n/a | Eligible for 75% tuition refund. No refund on ancillary fees. |
| 4 | WD notation on course. 75% refund deadline is the last day of the first month of the term. | Eligible for 50-75% tuition refund. No refund on ancillary fees. |
| 5-8 | WD notation on course. | Eligible for 50% tuition refund. No refund on ancillary fees. |
| 9 | Add/Drop form needs to be submitted to the Graduate Studies office. WD notation on course. | No refund on ancillary fees. |
| 10 | No further drop or WD. Only applications for Withdrawal under Extenuating Circumstance (WE) would be accepted. | n/a |
Withdrawing from your Program
If you no longer want to continue with your program, you can request to withdraw by submitting the Withdraw Form to gradstdy@sfu.ca. Requests must happen prior to week 2 of the term in order not to have an academic or financial impact.
If you choose merely not to enroll in a term, you will be discontinued in week 6, but it will not reflect that it was your request to stop your studies.