Georgian College has had to speak up about fees being incurred on students that should have been exempt during the current health crisis.
With campuses closed due to COVID-19, students are learning solely online.
Fees that would regularly be applied to students have been occurring even though the services and activities can’t be accessed.
Bus passes and on-site recreation facilities are part of the ancillary fees, but Georgian student Alyssa Lidow told BarrieToday she was still being charged despite being unable to use them.
“Due to the semester being online, none of these services will still be available to students, and yet they are still expected to pay for them,” she said. “Ancillary fees add up to hundreds of dollars, and can seriously impact a student's financial situation.”
In a statement to BarrieToday, the college says it was in the midst of getting refunds back to students.
“We know many of our students have had questions about ancillary fee refunds since moving to remote learning in mid-March," the statement says. "We appreciate their patience while we worked through this. It was a complex process and assessments and adjustments had to be calculated for approximately 15,000 students.”
The statement also included that refunds would start rolling out the week of April 27.
Ancillary fees are described on the Georgian College website as “fees charged over and above the cost of tuition, which support services and activities distinct from academic programming for the institution.”
A universal bus pass ($23.25 refund for full-time students at the Barrie campus only) and athletics and recreation fee ($29.22 refund for full-time students; part-time students will receive a refund of 32 per cent of the athletics recreation fee).
The statement from the college said that all other ancillary fees will not be refunded as these services, such as health and counselling services, technical assistance and others, were provided through remote delivery.
Students looking for their refund can contact the college here.
