This policy outlines the additional limitations and restrictions related to the deposit required of international student applicants for admission or readmission to Douglas College.
1 Relevant deadlines
1.1 Study Permit Confirmation
The Study Permit Confirmation deadline is the deadline to confirm the approval of your study permit application.
| Intake | Deadline (23:59 PST/PDT) |
|---|---|
| Fall (September to December) | August 15 |
| Winter (January to April) | December 8 |
| Summer (May to August) | April 15 |
1.2 Refund and Deferral
The Refund and Deferral deadline is the last day that students may submit requests for a refund or a deferral for their starting academic term.
| Intake | Deadline (23:59 PST/PDT) |
|---|---|
| Fall (September to December) | August 25 |
| Winter (January to April) | December 18 |
| Summer (May to August) | April 25 |
2 Who to contact
A student’s point of contact regarding admissions, including any requests regarding refunds, deferrals, or study permit confirmation, is their admissions coordinator. Email is the preferred contact method.
The admissions coordinator’s contact information is listed in box 15 of the student’s Letter of Acceptance (LOA). In case the admissions coordinator is unavailable, students should contact either the alternate contact listed in box 16 of the LOA, or the general Douglas College International Marketing and Recruitment email address (DCIAdmissions@douglascollege.ca).
Students should not send requests related to this policy to other individuals or units within Douglas College (e.g. Enrolment Services, Faculty, or other departments.) For the purposes of this policy, a request will be considered received when it gets to the Douglas College International Marketing and Recruitment team, even if the request was sent earlier to someone else.
3 Non-refundable deposit
Once an initial Letter of Acceptance (LOA) has been issued, the deposit becomes nonrefundable with the exception of the conditions described in the Refunds section below.
This policy does not overrule the general college Fee Refunds and Penalty Rules. The penalties and refunds mentioned in that policy apply to the deposit amount, with the exception that any refunds mentioned that are part of the deposit will be credited back to the student’s account, rather than refunded.
4 Deferral
Students who are not eligible to study in their accepted semester or those who would prefer to defer for personal reasons may request a Deferral. If the deferral is approved, the student’s deposit would remain secure, and their acceptance would be moved to the next available semester for their program with no penalties.
Deferrals are:
- Subject to approval. (Additional documentation may be requested.)
- For the next available semester for the student’s program.
- Not automatic and must be requested or confirmed in email by the student.
Deferral requests must be received by the Refund and Deferral deadline.
If a deferral request is not approved then the deposit is subject to the conditions of refund described below.
5 Refunds
Refunds of the deposit are permitted under limited circumstances, described below.
Additional documentation, information, and forms to complete may be required for processing a refund request. Refund requests must be received by the Refund and Deferral deadline.
6 Penalties
6.1 Dishonesty or fraud
Submission of documents, assessments, or transcripts that are fraudulent or were received through dishonest methods, making false claims during the admissions process (including study permit confirmation), or failure to receive a Study Permit due to fraud, alleged fraud, dishonesty, misrepresentation will result in complete forfeiture of the admissions deposit.
6.2 Failure to study
Students who study during their starting semester and are eligible to study during subsequent semesters, but choose to not study at Douglas College for two consecutive academic semesters without securing an official Authorized Leave from the International Student Advising team will forfeit the balance of their deposit.
7 Rights and responsibilities
7.1 Student
Students are responsible for making sure contact information such as email, local Canadian phone number, and local Canadian (British Colombia) address on record with Douglas College are accurate, up to date, and monitored.
Students are responsible for checking their email regularly and responding promptly to emails from Douglas College.
Students are responsible for updating Douglas College on the outcome of their Study Permit application as soon as possible. This should be done directly via email or through the Study Permit Confirmation form sent out to students as part of our study permit confirmation measures.
Students are responsible for updating Douglas College on a decision to request a refund or deferral by the Refund and Deferral Deadline.
7.2 Douglas College
Douglas College has the responsibility to take reasonable steps to contact the student regarding their application, eligibility to study, and the status of their deposit.
Douglas College reserves the right to approve extensions or exceptions to the restrictions described herein.
Douglas College reserves the right to change tuition and fees without notice. Tuition and fee information provided during the admissions process are estimates for planning purposes only, and do not constitute a binding agreement. The most up to date tuition and fee information can be found on the Douglas College website on the Tuition fee charts page.
Douglas College reserves the right to change the Study Permit Confirmation deadline and the Refund and Deferral deadline to accommodate institutional exigencies. In these circumstances the new dates will be communicated to students via email and the relevant parts of the Douglas College website will be updated.