Early and Voluntary Withdrawals and Student Fees Refund Policy
All applications for a refund must be in writing to the CEO. Please collect a Withdrawal Form from Reception and complete it. If you withdraw from study we will notify StudyLink and/or Public Trust and/or Immigration NZ, and/or other government agencies. If a refund is given it will be through the Public Trust, and will usually go directly to the original payer, e.g. your student loan or your parents. If you were recruited and enrolled through a referral agent or representative of NZCCM, refunds will be made directly to you. Commission paid to any referral agent may be refundable from them, by separate application to them. Any refunds will be paid in New Zealand dollars inclusive of GST. Students are responsible for investigating fee implications of withdrawing from a course and for withdrawing in a timely manner.
Domestic Students:
As per Section 253E (1) of the Education Act 1989, students have the following entitlements:
Domestic students enrolled in courses three months or longer are covered by the withdrawal rules. The statutory withdrawal period covers the seven days that follow Day 1 of the course start date (i.e. after 8 calendar days). If a domestic student withdraws within the refund period, NewZealandCollege of Chinese Medicine is entitled to retain up to 10 per cent of any amount paid or $500, whichever is the lesser.
If the student withdraws after the refund period there is no right to receive a refund.
If a domestic student withdraws from a course of less than three months (noting that there is no statutory withdrawal and refund period for these courses) New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine is entitled to retain 20 per cent of any amount paid or $3000, whichever is the lesser, provided the student has agreed, after the following periods:
a) two days of course attendance in respect of courses up to and including four weeks and six days
(b) five days of course attendance in respect of courses of five weeks or more, but less than three months
If the student withdraws after the refund period there is no right to receive a refund.
International Students:
As per Section 253E (1) of the Education Act 1989, International students have the following entitlements:
The statutory refund period for international students enrolled in courses that are three months or longer in duration is 10 working days from the day the student is first required to attend. If an international student withdraws during the refund period, the New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine is entitled to retain up to 25 per cent of the fees the student pays.
New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine will provide the student with an indication of how the amount deducted from the refund has been calculated in the process of completing the withdrawal application.
If the student is unhappy with the amount that New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine has withheld in the refund, they can lodge a complaint with the NZQA Disputes Resolution Service through iStudent Complaints.
For international students enrolled in courses less than three months, the Education Act specifies two separate refund periods.
For courses of less than five weeks, a student may withdraw up to until the end of the second day and receive a refund. The student is entitled to receive a refund of at least 50 per cent of any amount paid.
For courses of five weeks or more, but less than three months, a student may withdraw up to until the end of the fifth day and receive a refund. The student is entitled to receive a refund of at least 75 per cent of any amount paid.
If the student withdraws after the refund period there is no right to receive a refund.
All Students:
A full refund of any and all course-related fees paid by students will automatically be given for programmes which are cancelled by New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine, or which did not start due to an insufficient number of enrolments.
In the event of a Course Closure Event New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine will refund students on a pro-rata basis according to the proportion of the undelivered services provided by the College to the student.
New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine reserves the right to cancel any programme for which there are insufficient enrolments.
If programme fees have been paid from a student loan, Studylink will be notified and any refund will be sent to the appropriate student loan account management authority.
New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine staff will ensure all students are aware that withdrawal from a course may affect student loans and allowances. Students should also be notified that processing of refunds may take up to 2 weeks, or longer where unusual circumstances arise.
Links:
- Procedures for process Early Withdrawal and Student Fee refunds – click here
- Student fee refund entitlements flow charts – click here
