Frequently asked questions

• The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) runs its own visiting students program. The UTM program is not connected to the Visiting Students Program on the St. George campus. Please contact the UTM Office of the Registrar at 905-828-5399 to learn more.
• The University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) also runs its own visiting students program. Access the UTSC visiting students online application.

• If you’re interested in engineering courses, contact the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.
• For non-degree continuing education courses, visit the School of Continuing Studies.

Students admitted through the Woodsworth Visiting Students program can only take Faculty of Arts and Science courses. 

Yes, you do. In other words:

• If you were a Visiting Student during the Summer session, you need to submit a new application for the Fall/ Winter session.
• If you were a Visiting Student during the Fall/ Winter session, you need to submit a new application for the Summer session.

Yes, you’ll need to request a new letter of permission from your home university that contains an updated list of courses. If you’ve already received an email letter of offer from our office, you can go ahead and enrol in courses while you’re waiting for your home university to produce the new letter of permission.

There are two different types of deadlines when it comes to cancelling courses:

1. Last day to cancel a course without academic penalty. This is the last day to cancel an individual course so that it disappears from your permanent academic record. View the list of deadlines for cancelling a course without academic penalty on the Faculty of Arts & Science website. 
2. Last day to cancel a course and receive a full or partial refund. View the refund schedule on the Student Accounts website. 

FEES

• Find fees information on the Student Accounts website. Click on Tuition & Fees in the top menu, and then select an option from the dropdown. 

How to Read the Fee Schedule: Course Fees vs. Program Fees

• As long as you stay within the 3.5 Full Course Equivalent (FCE) credit limit during the Fall/ Winter session, you will be charged Course Fees, which are calculated on a per-course basis.
• If you enrol in more than 3.5 FCEs over the course of the Fall/ Winter session, you will be charged Program Fees, which are significantly more costly. Please contact our office if you have enrolled in more than 3.5 FCEs and/ or if you have been charged Program Fees.

Other Costs

Your financial plan should factor in non-academic costs of attending university such as housing, meals, transportation and books. The U of T Future Students page contains some tools that can help you get started with your budgeting. 

• Tuition fee payment deadlines are posted on the Arts & Science Academic Dates & Deadlines page.
• Additional fee deadlines (such as the payment schedule for students registered with an OSAP deferral, and fee payment & service charge billing deadlines) on the Student Accounts website.

You’ll need to make a minimum payment or defer your fees by the deadline; otherwise, you may be removed from your courses.

If you are a visiting student in need of financial aid, we encourage you to apply for OSAP. Unfortunately, we don't normally provide financial aid to visiting students other than OSAP.

• Are you on full-time OSAP? As of Fall 2018, you will be able to see an estimate of what you may need to pay to U of T once your upcoming OSAP is applied against your tuition & fees. This amount is called your Net Cost and it will help you plan ahead and estimate how much you may need to pay out of pocket. Learn how to view your Net Cost on ACORN.
• If you’re receiving OSAP, you can defer your tuition and register without paying the “minimum required payment to register” amount shown on your ACORN invoice. To do so, go to the Finances tab on ACORN, scroll down and click on Tuition Fee Deferral.
• If you’re unable to defer your fees online, please contact the Visiting Students Program Office before the payment deadline to demonstrate your OSAP funding assessment, and we will manually defer your fees if you are eligible.

University of Toronto refund policies and deadlines may be quite different from those at your college. These refund policies and deadlines are not flexible. 

If you withdraw from courses early in the session, you may be eligible for a refund of some portion of your fees. Refunds are calculated based on the date that you formally drop a course on ACORN. To find out about refund deadlines, see the previous question, "What is the deadline to drop a course?"

Please note:

• You’ll be charged for all courses you’ve enrolled in, whether or not you attend class. In order to avoid this, you'll need to drop the class by the deadline. 
• It’s important to keep your mailing address current on ACORN because all mail from the University, including refund cheques, will be sent to this address. U of T is not responsible for lost mail due to having an out-of-date mailing address on file. 

As a Visiting Student, you will have access to off-campus housing listings and other housing resources on the U of T Housing website.

Each year, a number of Visiting Students seek admission to the Faculty of Arts & Science as transfer students. If you have completed no more than two years of study at another university, you may be admissible for up to ten transfer credits towards a twenty credit degree. The application deadline is in January of each year for full-time and part-time studies. This is not handled by our office. Instead, you will need to apply through OUAC: the Ontario Universities Application Centre.

If you have questions that cannot be answered on the OUAC website, please contact University of Toronto Enrolment Services.  

No, you will need to request an official transcript yourself. You can do this using ACORN (U of T's student information system) or by contacting the University of Toronto Transcript Centre.

If you’d like an unofficial transcript, you can print one out using ACORN.

If you require accommodations for a disability, or have any accessibility related concerns, please connect with Accessibility Services as soon as possible. We recommend that you register with Accessibility Services before your classes begin. This is especially important during the summer session since summer courses run on a compressed schedule (six or 12 weeks).

Accessibility Services supports students with a documented disability, whether physical, sensory, learning disabilities or mental and chronic health. Students with a temporary disability (e.g. concussion, broken arm or leg,) are also eligible. Visit the Accessibility Services website to find more information about registering, accommodations, peer mentoring and more.

Once admitted to the Visiting Students Program, you will have access to the Centre for International Experience. They have a great tool on their website to determine if you need a Study Permit. 

If you previously completed a course and received a passing grade, you cannot repeat it again.