Dalhousie students continue to seek tuition refunds for lost class time

As the fall semester comes to an end, Ella Kang is one of many Dalhousie University students still seeking tuition reductions. 

“The struggles [students] have faced academically and financially are going to carry over into the next semester,” says Kang, a third-year medical science student at Dalhousie. 

“It’s a good idea to advocate for what we feel and think we deserve.”

Dalhousie students missed the first three weeks of most fall semester classes after the university’s board of governors locked out nearly 1,000 faculty members on Aug. 20. The university board and its faculty ratified a collective agreement ending the lockout on Sept. 17. Suspended classes resumed on Sept. 23.

In a Sept. 22 release, Dalhousie said it would not be issuing tuition refunds to students, pointing to changes to the academic calendar and additional support provided to instructors.

“For this reason, tuition refunds or rate changes will not be offered,” the statement said.

Student union response

In an Instagram video posted to the Dalhousie Student Union’s Instagram on Sept. 20, DSU President Maren Mealey said the union would seek a 21 per cent tuition refund for students, which she said is equivalent to the amount of class time missed due to the lockout. 

Despite there being no updates on the potential refunds from the university since classes began, Mealey says the union is continuing to advocate for tuition reductions behind closed doors.

“As students have become quickly bogged down by the heightened academic demand due to lost class time, we’ve shifted away from large-scale student mobilization efforts and instead into meeting rooms and out of the public eye,” said Mealey in an emailed statement to the Dalhousie Gazette on Nov. 28. 

She said it has been a “challenging and frustrating process” thus far, citing the financial difficulties universities are facing across Nova Scotia.

“Dal has not been spared, making the fight for tuition reductions a steep uphill battle. However, just as before, the DSU firmly believes that, as students are the largest stakeholders of the university, we deserve to be taken seriously and compensated when the service we are paying for is not being provided.”

Dalhousie’s 2025-26 operating budget projected a $20.6 million deficit. 

Isabella Gualtieri, a second-year political science and history student at Dalhousie, says that she “never had her hopes up” for any tuition reductions due to the university’s financial situation. Despite having low expectations, she says she fully supports any advocacy efforts for students to get refunded for the lost class time. 

“We’re paying to get something out of our education, and we’re not getting that,” says Gualtieri. 

She says Dalhousie should be more transparent about the ongoing student fight for tuition refunds.

“The overall atmosphere has been very stressful,” says Gualtieri. “We’re feeling the effects of the lockout; it’d be nice to have something said about [tuition refunds].” 

Gualtieri’s concerns about a lack of transparency are shared among students, as some say they’re demotivated by the lack of information about tuition refunds since the lockout’s conclusion. 

Despite her desire to continue pushing for tuition reductions, Kang says that she feels as though students have been put in a situation where there “isn’t a lot we can do.” 

“It’s frustrating, because we haven’t had any updates from the DSU or [Dalhousie administration],” she says. “The lack of response and support just makes us feel like there’s nothing really out there that could help us.”