A commonly used abbreviation in the Canadian (and probably others) mutual fund industry. It stands for Deferred Sales Charge, a type of commission charged on mutual fund purchases. When you purchase a DSC fund, you don't pay out an initial commission, but you are penalized for withdrawing earlier than a set time, usually six years. DSC is also called Back-End Load.

Other types of commission include Front-End Load (FE), which is also called Initial Sales Charge (ISC); and No Load (NL).

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DSc also stands for Doctor of Science, an advanced university degree roughly equivalent to the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Like the PhD, the DSc requires coursework, research, and ultimately the preparation of a dissertation; as the name suggests, it's awarded only to students in the sciences.

Many universities only award this degree honoris causa and give the PhD to students who actually earned their degrees. Some schools in Australia and New Zealand have an intermediate policy: they award the degree only to alumni, who must present an application demonstrating prominence and proficiency in their field.
