Federal Leave of Absence Policy

Students enrolled in a term may apply to their dean for a leave of absence for either the next term or academic year and process a leave of absence form in the Office of Student Records.

Students are not normally allowed to take an official "leave of absence" during the course of a semester. However, if an exception to university policy is made and the student is receiving federal financial aid funds, the following federal guidelines will apply:

Federal Leave of Absence Policy:

A student who takes an approved leave of absence is not considered to have withdrawn from the school. For federal financial aid programs, a leave of absence must meet the following guidelines.

A  leave of absence is approved if:

• the student has made a written request for the leave of absence;
• the leave of absence does not exceed 180 days;
• the school has granted only one leave of absence to the student in any 12-month period; and
• the school does not charge the student for the leave of absence.

If a student's leave of absence is not approved, the student is considered to have withdrawn from the school, and the federal refund requirements apply.

These leave of absence requirements also affect a student's in-school status for the purposes of deferring federal student loans. A student on an approved leave of absence is considered to be enrolled at the school and would be eligible for an in-school deferment for his/her federal student loan. A student who takes an unapproved leave of absence or fails to return to school at the end of an approved leave of absence is no longer enrolled at the school and is not eligible for an in-school deferment of his/her loans.

For further information, see the 2009-2010 Federal Student Aid Handbook, Volume 5, Chapter 2, pages 5-32-34 .

Updated June 24, 2010