Student-Initiated Withdrawal from NBCC or an Individual Course

Students may withdraw from their academic studies at any point during their studies by reaching out to their academic department.  It is important to know that there are important dates in each term – depending on when a student decides to withdraw, they may not be eligible for a refund.  All withdrawals are subject to course grading and evaluation policy.

Student withdrawal from NBCC is subject to the dates in the College Academic Calendar and stated in the Tuition and Other Student Fees (2331) and the Transcript and Grading System (1108).

Steps to Withdrawing

  1. Students should first contact the coordinating instructor (CI) in their program. If the CI is not available, the student should reach out to the Academic Chair (AC). This can be done by email or in person.
  2. The CI or AC may ask to meet with the student to discuss the reasons for withdrawing.
  3. Following this meeting, the student should send an email to the CI and/or AC to formally request that they be withdrawn from NBCC.
  4. After this has been completed, the AC will notify the Registrar’s Office using a Student Status Form that the student is being withdrawn.

Implications of Withdrawing

This section provides a summary of the dates and rules to consider if withdrawing from NBCC.

Student Fees

  1. For programs that are 30-40 weeks (per year) in length and normally start in Fall and Winter, all student fees are due on the first Friday of class in the term.
  2. Students withdrawing by the second Friday of the term are eligible for a 100% refund of tuition except the confirmation fee for first-term students.
  3. Students withdrawing by the fourth Friday of the term are eligible for a 50% refund of tuition except the confirmation fee for first-term students.

Academic Calendar and Grading

Courses in any given Academic term may be delivered over the course of the first 7 weeks, the full 15 weeks, or the final 7 weeks. Final grading is based on the start date of each course. This means that students may be withdrawn and see a WI on the transcript in some places, while other courses may not appear at all.

  • If less than 20% of a course has been delivered, or if the course has not yet commenced, then the course will not be displayed on the official transcript.
  • If 21-50% of a course has been delivered, then a Withdrawn (WI) will be present on the transcript.
  • If 50% of a course has been delivered, a Withdrawn Fail (or failing grade) may be present on the transcript.

Withdrawing from an Academic Course

Withdrawing from a single course may be initiated similarly and is subject to the same rules and processes. Students should reach out to their instructor or CI to withdraw from a course. Once this has been done, the CI or AC will send a Course Change Request Form to the Registrar's Office.

  1. Students are subject to all of the same academic regulations in the College Academic Calendar.
  2. Students will only receive a refund on tuition if their overall course load drops to part-time (below a 60% load) AND if the deadlines listed above have not passed.

Requesting Leave from NBCC for Medical Reasons

Students with documented medical reasons may be able to receive a medical leave of absence (MLOA) from NBCC. Students seeking a medical leave of absence must:

  1. Approach your Coordinating Instructor (CI) or Academic Chair (AC) to formally request a medical leave of absence.
  2. Students be fully prepared to provide documented medical documentation to the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office has the right to request additional information if required.  All medical notes must be sent to MLOA@nbcc.ca.  Notes are subject to review and, for confidentiality reasons, should not be shared with any other staff member or office.

    Medical documentation must be received by the College at the MLOA@nbcc.ca inbox no later than 60 calendar days from the time that the student has been placed on medical leave.  Failure to provide medical documentation in this time will result in cancellation of the medical leave and any benefits entitled to the student including reserved seats in future terms and tuition credits.  The onus is on the student to send documentation directly to mloa@nbcc.ca – documentation should not be sent to any other staff or office at NBCC.  
  3. Students who are approved for a MLOA from their program may receive a tuition credit in a future term depending on the date in the term the request is received. Tuition is not refunded for MLOA students. 
  4. Students who are approved from NBCC may lose access to the student health and dental policies provided through GuardMe and Gallivan insurance. These policies are provided through external partners and are subject to their processes and regulations.  

Note:  Any error in this document will be superseded by the aforementioned governing documents, namely the Tuition and Other Student Fees (2331) and the NBCC Academic Calendar and the Transcript and Grading System (1108) policy.