Enrollment deadlines and policies are strictly enforced. Refunds are generated by Billing and Payment Services after a student either cancels their summer enrollment or drops a course(s) before the cancellation or the tuition refund deadline.
Refunds
Application Fee
The $25 Application Fee for all non-UC visiting students is payable via credit card at the time of application submission and is strictly non-refundable.
Refund of Credit Card Payments
If your fees have been paid with a credit card, and you are eligible to receive a refund, you will receive a refund back to your credit card. Refunds from cancellations and withdrawals will be processed within 15 business days from the day of the cancellation/withdrawal. Refunds from a decrease in units will be refunded on July 30, 2025. If you add more units after a refund has been processed, you will be subject to the credit card processing fee.
Refund of Non-Credit Card Payments
If your fees have been paid with a method other than a credit card, such as eCheck or International Funds Transfer, or any mode of payment through Flywire and you are eligible to receive a refund, you will receive an email notification within 15 business days that the refund is available either via Direct Deposit (only students with a U.S. bank account are eligible for direct deposit) or as a paper check. Paper checks with a local address will be mailed via regular mail after check printing. Checks with international addresses will be mailed via FedEx a week after check printing. For FedEx tracking numbers, please contact our student services team through our inquiry form.
If Your Course is Canceled
Although very few courses are canceled, Berkeley Summer Sessions reserves the right to cancel a course if it has not enrolled enough students before the beginning of course instruction. The sponsoring academic department may also cancel courses based on their internal criteria. In the case of a course cancellation, all enrolled students are notified by email, dropped from the class, and no longer charged for the class.
Summer Tuition Credit
When a course is dropped after the session's tuition refund deadline, students receive a Summer Tuition Credit instead of a refund. This credit can be applied towards the tuition of a new, subsequently added class in the same summer term. Summer Tuition Credits are not applied towards the tuition of previously enrolled course(s).
Please reach out to Summer Sessions Student Services advisers if you are considering making enrollment changes after the refund deadline to help you better understand how Summer Tuition Credit works.
Summer Tuition Credit is never refunded and is generated every time a course is dropped after the tuition refund deadline of a session.
Policy Exceptions
Enrollment deadlines and policies are strictly enforced. In cases where a student is unable to complete a course due to exigent circumstances beyond their control, requests for exceptions to enrollment policies may be submitted for review.
Appeals are most commonly approved for serious personal injury or illness, contemporaneous death of an immediate family member and military deployment. Appeals are generally denied for reasons related to employment changes, perceived quality of instruction, dissatisfaction with a course, dropping courses to avoid academic penalties, financial hardship, missing a deadline, and misunderstanding or failure to review policy.
Students must be withdrawn from the course prior to submitting an appeal, as exceptions will only be considered in circumstances where a student was unable to continue. Official, supporting documentation is required for all appeals. UC Berkeley Summer Sessions has the right to approve or deny any appeal. The review process can take 4-8 weeks.
Click here for more information about our Appeals Process. We also encourage students to reach out to Summer Sessions Student Services advisers for questions regarding the appeal process. For policies regarding summer tuition and fees, please visit Summer Fees and Summer Deadlines.
Summer 2025 appeals will NOT be accepted after Friday, September 19, 2025.
Summer 2024 appeals are now closed for submission. No appeals will be accepted after Friday, September 20, 2024.
Refunds for Special Programs
Students participating in a special program offered by Berkeley Summer Sessions, such as Summer Abroad or Global Internships programs, must follow the policies and procedures published in their respective sections. Please refer to the policies for Summer Abroad and Global Internships for more information. Students participating in the College of Environmental Design's Summer Institute, embARC Summer Design Academy, or Disc* programs must follow the policies and procedures published by the respective department.