Cancellation and Refund Policy

Payment Methods and Refund Policy

The deadline for participants to withdraw from the 2023 Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program are as follows:

  • Withdrawal by 4/30/2023: full refund (minus administrative costs and transaction fees)
  • Withdrawal between 5/1/2023 and 5/14/2023: 75% of the costs refunded
  • Withdrawal between 5/15/2023 and 5/31/2023: 50% of the costs refunded
  • Withdrawal from 6/1/2023 onward: no refund

In the case of visa denial, border closures, shelter-in-place, quarantine, campus closure, low enrollment, or any general disaster that causes the in-person portion of the program to be unavailable for a participant who has already paid and participated in any of the online portion, we will refund 83% of the program fee (minus administrative costs and transaction fees). Any other fees, including visa- and travel-related fees, may not be reimbursable; unfortunately this is not something we can control in the event of an external factor causing the program to be cancelled.

Gifts made to the university on behalf of sponsoring organizations are exempt from this and cannot be refunded. Find out more about specific payment methods and transaction fees below.


We have several payment options, each of which come with their own specific surcharges to help cover our costs for processing payments. These are specific to certain payment methods and are charged by our financial institutions, not by IEP or ELP.

Fees and refunds of credit card payments

If you choose to pay via credit card, international payments may be made through berkeleydept.flywire.com. There may be credit card fees and other associated transaction fees charged by our financial institutions.

We have an Aventri payment portal for domestic credit card payments, but this method is reserved only for extreme cases, and is not available generally. If this method is used, the following fees charged by our financial institutions may apply:

  • Credit card fee: 2.5-4.0% per transaction
  • Aventri fee: $1.95 per registration
  • CyberSource transaction fee: $0.11 per transaction

If you pay via credit card and you are eligible to receive a refund, you will receive a refund back to your credit card, again through whichever payment website you used. There will be a 9% campus administrative fee deducted from the amount refunded, in addition to any transaction fees charged by our financial institutions.

Fees and refunds of wire transfer payments

If you choose to pay via wire transfer, there will be no additional fees added to your payment.

If you pay via wire transfer and you are eligible to receive a refund, you will receive a refund back to your bank account through a wire transfer. There is a $25 wire transfer fee which will be deducted from the refunded refunded, in addition to a 9% campus administrative fee.

Fees and refunds of checks

If you choose to pay via mailing us a paper check and you are eligible to receive a refund, you will receive a refund check mailed to you. If we have not yet cashed the check on our end, we will attempt to prevent it from being cashed, meaning you may not have to receive a refund check. If we have already cashed the check or are unable to prevent it from being cashed, your refund check will have a 9% campus administrative fee deducted from the amount refunded.

Fees and refunds of gifts

If your sponsoring organization or workplace chooses to pay via a gift made to the university, we will not be able to return those funds in the event of withdrawal from the program.


Cancellation Policy

We are not anticipating the cancellation of any programs, but UC Berkeley reserves the right to cancel the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program in the event of any of the following:

  • extenuating circumstances (e.g. natural disasters, acts of terror, campus closure, border closure)
  • power outage/technical difficulties
  • cybersecurity breaches (i.e. issues related to hacking)
  • low enrollment

Additionally, please keep in mind that the exact instructor lineup may change at any time, and that the schedule may need to shift somewhat if instructors fall ill.

In the case of such a cancellation occurring before the program start date, all participants will receive a full refund of course fees (minus administrative costs and transaction fees charged by our financial institutions). In the case of such a cancellation occurring partway through the program (including partway through the online portion but before the in-person portion), all participants will receive a partial pro-rated refund of 83% of the program fee (minus administrative costs and transaction fees charged by our financial institutions). Any other fees, including visa- and travel-related fees, may not be reimbursable; unfortunately this is not something we can control in the event of an external factor causing the program to be cancelled.