Finance FAQ

No, extending courses does not provide any benefit for funding purposes. The study period is determined by the registration date of your courses, as each study period has defined registration dates. Extending your courses will change your academic completion date, but your registration date and study period end date will remain the same.

Refer to Student Awards & Financial Support for more information.

Full-time funding is designed to help supplement the cost of post-secondary education by providing funding for both educational and living costs, such as tuition, food, and housing. Please note, however, that students are still expected to contribute some of their own finances to help fund their education.

Part-time funding, on the other hand, only allows for direct educational costs plus a small miscellaneous allowance.

Refer to Student Awards & Financial Support for more information.

Students are expected to first pursue any financial assistance offered by the government, such as student loans and grants. However, there are other opportunities to receive financial assistance, such as our in-course awards or external funding.

Please note that returning full-time Open Learning students are required to email studentawards@tru.ca between August 15 and September 30 to request that an application be opened for them.

BC residents apply for funding through the StudentAid BC portal. If you are unsure if you are a BC resident, you must determine your eligibility. If you are not a resident of BC resident, you can apply through your province of residence. Ensure you keep a copy of your application number and passcode.

Generally, students must register in a 60% course load (9 credits) and complete their courses in a four-month term to be considered in full-time attendance for a funded study period. Students designated through their province as studying with a disability are only required to register for a 40% course load (6 credits), but they are still required to complete their courses in the four-month term.

Please note that full-time course loads are dependent on each region, so it is best to check with your province of residence for complete details.

Conversion of self-paced courses with an academic completion time of seven and a half months must be completed in four months to qualify for financial aid. Students interested in receiving student aid for Open Learning courses must complete and submit a study contract agreeing to maintain a schedule to submit 25% of the assignments for each course every month.

Students must demonstrate course attendance to ensure their funding is not affected. Attendance for Open Learning courses is determined by the number of graded assignments. Any applicable exams can be written in the last week of class or within the first two weeks of the fifth month.

Eligibility for funding is based on various personal factors, such as your household income, marital status, and family size. The amount of funding you receive depends on your financial needs. You can utilize the StudentAid BC website for more information on the calculation and potential award amounts. If you are not a BC student, you will need to visit the correct website for your province of residence.

Tuition Fee Refunds

If you submit your request to cancel your registration by the cancellation deadline, you will receive a 100% refund of tuition fees.

Course administration, technology and other non-tuition course fees are non-refundable.

Please refer to the Returning Course Materials policy for further information.

TRU's updated Open Learning registration platform requires registration and payment to be completed at the same time. To support immediate course registration, payment must be received instantly.

At this time, the payment provider can only process instant payments through credit card and virtual debit card transactions. The convenience fee covers the cost charged by the payment provider to securely process these payments in real time, including payment processing and fraud prevention measures.

The fee is charged by the payment provider and appears as a separate line item during checkout and on your receipt. Without instant payment processing, you would not be able to register immediately for their courses through the new system.

The convenience fee is 2.5% of the payment amount for credit card transactions and 1.70% of the payment amount for virtual debit card transactions.

Yes, it applies to both domestic and international students who use credit cards or debit for Open Learning registration.

Currently, there is no way to avoid the convenience fee when registering for Open Learning courses. The registration system requires immediate payment at the time of registration, and the payment provider applies the fee to process credit and debit card transactions.

TRU does not receive any portion of the convenience fee. It is charged by the payment provider and appears as a separate line item during checkout and on the student's receipt.

The new system offers the ability to pay by virtual debit card, improved fraud prevention, foreign card acceptance, dynamic currency conversion and enhanced security features.

For assistance with course registration, contact the Enrolment Services at 250-828-5000 (toll-free in Canada at 1-800-663-9711) or email student@tru.ca. They are open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For assistance with payments, call 1-855-663-6839 (toll-free) or through one of their local country contact numbers for PayMyTuition customer support. You can also reach PayMyTuition Support at support@paymytuition.com or through their support page.

No matter what time zone you're in, you will have a dedicated customer support team available to you through live chat, email and phone to answer any of your questions and help you make your payment.

The upgraded payment systems through PayMyTuition offer enhanced security measures, such as 3DS 2.0, which adds an extra layer of protection for credit card holders, particularly for online transactions. This advanced system helps prevent fraud by requiring additional verification steps to ensure that only authorized users can complete payments. Additionally, these platforms are fully compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), ensuring that your personal and financial information is securely handled during every transaction.

No, TRU does not keep or receive the credit card processing fees. These fees are collected by the payment processing company (PayMyTuition) to cover the costs associated with handling credit and debit card transactions. The university does not keep or receive the credit and debit card convenience fees.