TL;DR SAMRU’s VP Academic brought forward student concerns with the new full-year registration deposit. Student experiencing difficulties coming up with the payment should contact Student Awards & Financial Aid for support in this process.

SAMRU’s VP Academic recently spoke to MRU about student concerns with the registration deposit. MRU notes that this is not a new fee; it is a deposit that goes toward tuition. While the new full year registration and deposit can help improve access to courses (see explanation below), we also let MRU know that students need time to plan their finances. If you are not sure how you will pay, make sure to contact Student Awards & Financial Aid. You should not have to put yourselves in a more precarious financial situation to pay the deposit.

With MRU’s current system of partial-year (per-semester) registration, popular classes fill up quickly and overflow registrations are put on a waitlist. This doesn’t give the University enough time to hire contract faculty to instruct those additional sections.

Currently, a student can register for a class and hold a space until after school starts or even until the drop date, and then drop the class. If another student were waiting to take the class and seats became available after the drop date, they would remain empty because you can’t add a class at this point.

With the new registration system, students are committing to take the course with a deposit. MRU sees this as a deterrent to “hoarding” courses, resulting in more free spaces and availability at the time of registration.

If this new system impacts you negatively—or if you’re having difficult arranging your finances to pay the deposit—we strongly encourage you to speak to someone at the Student Financial Aid and Awards office. MRU has assured us that they will work to find ways to support students experiencing difficulty paying this deposit.

MRU Full Year Registration frequently asked questions

Contact MRU Student Awards & Financial Aid Office