Registration

All students are required to register for the Summer session if they are taking courses. However, not all students are required to pay fees in order to register.

Fees Not Required

Summer fees are not required for:

• Students continuing in the same degree and who were registered in the previous Fall or Winter sessions, either full-time for one session or part-time for both sessions.
• Students returning in the Summer session from an approved leave (see General Regulations section 6.1.15 Leave Policy) do not pay Summer session fees.

If you are not required to pay fees and are taking courses, you'll automatically be registered by the OISE Registrar's Office. 

Fees Required

Summer fees are required for students continuing in the same degree who were not registered in the previous Fall or Winter sessions, either full-time for one session or part-time for both sessions.

A fee deferral is a special financial arrangement available to a qualified student who cannot make the deadline for the minimum tuition payment to be officially registered. This arrangement is temporary and you are expected to pay your tuition as soon as you can

Deferrals are not automatically considered. Students must submit a formal application to defer. If approved, ACORN will change your sessional registration status to "Registered".

Who is Eligible? 

Consideration is given to students whose only option for making the minimum payment is the arrival of internal or external funding, such as government loans, major awards, or sponsorship by a third party.

How to Apply for a Fee Deferral

1. Government loan or graduate scholarship/award deferral
You may request a fee deferral on ACORN if you are the recipient of an:

• Ontario Student Assistance Plan (OSAP) loan;
• Other provincial/territorial government loan;
• US government loan; or
• University funding package (graduate base funding package, major award, and research or teaching stipend).

The deferral request is conditional on the following:

1. That you have no outstanding fees from a previous session. 
2. That the loan, scholarship or award exceeds the Minimum Payment to Register amount on your fees invoice. 

To make the request, click on the relevant deferral button on the “Financial Accounts” section on ACORN.

2. Major external or internal award, or graduate/teaching assistantship deferral

You must request a fee deferral by completing a Register Without Payment Form if you are:

• Receiving a major award, either external or internal; or
• Awarded a Graduate Assistantship or Teaching Assistantship, but not receiving a Graduate Base Funding Package. 

The deferral request is conditional on the following: 

1. That your award is greater than or equals the Minimum Payment to Register amount on your fees invoice. 
2. That you have no more than $100.00 in outstanding fees from a previous session. 
3. That all admission conditions have been met.

3. Sponsorship by a third party (e.g., First Nations band)

The student must request a sponsorship arrangement/deferral with the Student Accounts Office for each academic session in which a sponsor will pay for current session tuition fees. Submission of the annual letter from your sponsor to the Student Receivables & Accounting Office is required to complete registration for each academic session and avoid having registration financially cancelled and course enrolment cancelled. Information on applying for a fee deferral on this basis can be found on the Student Accounts website. 

Every graduate program has a specified program length, which represents the expected amount of time it'll take to complete a specific degree program. The program length is stated in the Offer of Admission and in the SGS Graduate Calendar.

Changing your status from full-time to part-time or the reverse is allowed only in some programs, but there are restrictions.

Once you've gone beyond the program length or have begun your last required course (whichever comes first), you are required to register annually until all degree requirements are completed on the following basis: 
 

Doctoral Programs

• Standard PhD programs: Students are required to maintain full-time, year-round registration for the duration of the program. (A minimum of one year of full-time registration is required.)   
• Flexible-time PhD programs: Students are required to maintain full-time, year-round registration for the first four years, after which part-time registration may be permitted upon request with program approval. Students must send a request using their uToronto email to the Registrar's Office and copy their department for program approval. Status changes cannot be backdated.
• EdD programs: The pattern of study varies for EdD programs. Most programs may be commenced on a part-time basis. However, a minimum period of 12 months of full-time registration is required. After which, full-time registration must be maintained.  

Master’s Programs  

• Full-time Master's students undertaking a degree that requires a comprehensive examination, Major Research Paper, or Thesis must continue to register on a full-time basis and pay the full-time fee once they have completed the defined Program Length or have begun their last required course (whichever comes first), until all degree requirements have been completed.

  • If full-time master's students wish to change to part-time status, the change must be requested for the Fall/Winter session before they begin their final session of the defined Program Length or before they begin their last required course, whichever comes first (Restrictions may apply).  If the last required course is taken in the Summer session, a change to part-time status must have been made for the previous Winter session.  Students will be required to maintain continuous registration and to pay part-time fees until all degree requirements have been completed. 

• Part-time Master’s students register in those sessions in which they are completing course requirements for the degree. A change of status in the Summer does not affect a student’s status in the following Fall/Winter session. Once they have begun their last required course, these students must register annually and pay the part-time fee until all other requirements have been completed. Failure to register as required will cause a student's status to lapse.

• Exemptions: Students in Master of Education (MEd) programs that don't require a thesis, major research paper/project, or comprehensive exam are exempt from the requirement to maintain continuous registration. However, a switch from full-time to part-time status is not permitted once the program length defined for a program has been completed.

• Counselling Psychology students in the Counselling & Psychotherapy and Guidance & Counselling fields must obtain APHD Department permission via a Degree/Program Transfer form to request status changes from part-time to full-time and the reverse. The Global Mental Health & Counselling Psychology field is only offered full-time.

• The Master of Teaching program is a full-time program only, thus, status changes cannot be made.

• Changes to Registration Status can only be made by the Registrar's Office upon a student's request, and is dependent on restrictions, the course add/drop deadlines and if allowed by individual programs. Students dropping a course will not automatically change status to part-time (lower tuition), a request must be sent to a registration advisor. 

• Changes to full-time/part-time status cannot be made retroactively.

• Status changes can result in an increased Balance of Degree Fee owing at the end of the program.