On this page:
Charges for thesis and non-thesis programs | Students in Graduate Programs Taking "Extra" Courses
Charges for thesis and non-thesis programs
Thesis Programs
In thesis programs, students are charged tuition at a flat rate equivalent to 15 credits per term if they are registered full-time. In the summer term, students with a status of "continuing" in a thesis program are not charged fees unless they are enrolled in either courses which are considered extra to their program or a full-time term of residency.
Students who have completed the residency requirements for their program but have not yet completed the program requirements are required to be registered in a supplementary session. Students in thesis programs are thus classified as being in an “Additional session” and this status continues until a student graduates. (Students in additional session are also charged fees in the summer term.)
Students who have submitted their initial thesis will be classified as “thesis evaluation”. (Students in Thesis Evaluation are also charged fees in the summer term.)
For details about degree progression and your classification in each term, see Thesis deadlines. Fees associated with these statuses can be found under Graduate studies fee tables 2023-2024. Please refer to sections 4.1.1 and 4.2.1 for Residence requirements for Master’s and Doctoral programs in the General Information, Regulations and Research guidelines in the Graduate Calendar.
Non-Thesis Programs
Students in non-thesis programs are charged tuition at a per credit rate.
Students may have a status of “non-thesis extension“ which is a non-course status and only permitted when students have completed all of their required coursework. Students who subsequently take additional courses not required for their program will not have this status. For example, students who have registered for a last course such as a project in a previous term but have not completed it, must register in a Non-Thesis Extension status in subsequent terms , without exceeding their program time limitation, until graduation.
Exceptions:
Certain self-funded programs such as the MBA and Master in Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management programs are subject to a flat rate tuition rate structure (but with ancillary fees based on credits taken).
Other Considerations
Students in graduate programs on McGill’s downtown and Macdonald College campuses are also subject to student society fees, student services fees, registration and transcripts charges, and information technology charges. Students in programs offered on-line or in locations away from the downtown or Macdonald campuses, may be subject to other fees.
Student Society and departmental or faculty-based fees are summarized by viewing the fees for the program at Graduate Tuition & Fees.
Postdoctoral Fellows, Scholars, and non-unionized Researchers, are charged fees for membership to the Post-Graduate Students' Society (PGSS) as well as the PGSS Health & Dental Insurance plan, and Student Services Fees. For details about postdoctoral classifications, please visit the GPS website.
Note: To find definitions of the different categories of students (half-time, non-thesis etc.) used by Graduate and Postdoctoral studies, refer to "Categories of Students" in the Graduate and Postdoctoral studies course calendar, under the chapter "Regulations". The course calendar can be found here.
Students in Graduate Programs Taking "Extra" Courses
Students who wish to take courses that are considered to be "extra" to their primary program must request, in writing to their department, to have those courses flagged as extra to their program. These students will be required to pay additional tuition and ancillary fee charges. Students who are in non-thesis programs are already charged fees at the per credit rate for tuition and ancillary fees, so the charges for extra courses are part of their regular fee assessment. However, students in thesis programs are charged fees at the program level. Extra courses are not part of the tuition charged for the program, and so must be charged additional tuition and ancillary fees at the per credit rate (where the maximum cap has not been reached).
The assessment of tuition and fees for extra courses will be processed as students register and finalized after normal course add/drop deadlines have passed. See Graduate Studies Tuition Rates Fall/Winter 2024-25 for details on current rates.