Course Drops, Withdrawals, and Leave of Absence Requests

Before and During Drop/Add

Classes may be dropped during open enrollment (before the semester begins) and during Drop/Add by the student themself. Students are not grade or fee liable for these drops. No special permission is needed for withdrawals. 

Pre-7th Week Deadline

Classes dropped after the drop/add period, but before the end of the seventh week of classes, do not appear on final transcripts (student is not grade liable). Students are tuition/fee liable for courses dropped after Drop/Add. Students must initiate any withdrawals through the Office of Withdrawal Services but (unless medical/mental health) will be approved by the CEHHS without requiring documentation of circumstances. For DIS to Dissertation course swaps with admission to doctoral candidacy, doctoral students must contact their academic department staff.

Post-7th Week Deadline Graduate and Undergraduate Students

Approval of post-7th week late course drops for graduate students requires a University-approved medical/mental health course drop application or approval of a documented personal hardship course drop petition.

Undergraduates: See the post-12 week deadline information found on this website.

Approval of post-7th week withdrawals from all coursework in a given semester requires a University-approved medical/mental health withdrawal application. For post-seventh week personal withdrawals, approval of a documented CEHHS personal hardship course drop/withdrawal online petition and a University application is required. See the CEHHS online petition linked on this website to initiate this process.

Late Drop / Post-12th-Week Deadline (Undergraduate Students Only)

Undergraduate students may drop up to a total of two classes between the end of the 7th and 12th weeks of semesters prior to earning 60 hours of credit and one additional course after having earned 60 hours of credit. Students are fee liable for late drops and the course appears on their transcript with a “W” grade. 

Medical / Mental Health

Students may petition to have classes dropped for medical or mental health reasons based on documented circumstances from during the semester in question. Documentation must be provided by a state-licensed medical or mental health practitioner. Petitions are considered by a committee composed of medical and mental health professionals associated with University Health Services (UHS). Approved drops remove tuition/fee liability, if initiated within university allowed time frames.

Personal Hardship / Administrative

Students may petition to have classes dropped based on non-medical/mental health circumstances through Office of Academic Services and Intern Support (OASIS) by contacting their academic department/program. Cause-specific documentation of circumstances must be provided. Petitions are reviewed by the academic dean (or representative). Individual circumstances and date of petition submission determine whether the CEHHS can waive tuition/fee liability for personal hardship course drops.

The University academic calendars and enrollment appointments (registration windows) can be viewed at https://registrar.fsu.edu/calendar/. Students are tuition/fee liable  for any coursework remaining on their course schedule after the drop/add deadline. Students are both  tuition/fee  liable and  grade liable  for coursework remaining on their schedule after the seventh week deadline, unless a medical/mental health withdrawal is requested and is approved by the University. Please note that dates and deadlines are prorated in summer.

Drops before and during drop/add, pre-7th week drops, and late drops are all initiated through your myFSU Student Center account. 

Personal hardship drops are initiated by submitting the online petition form. Students must contact the appropriate academic dean’s representative to initiate a medical/mental health course drop.

Before and During Drop/Add

1. Go to Student Central > My Classes > Enrollment: Drop Classes. Select the correct semester.
2. If enrollment is still open or if it is during the drop/add period, proceed with dropping courses.

Pre-7th Week Deadline

1. Go to Student Central > My Classes > Enrollment: Drop Classes. Select the correct semester.
2. When your schedule appears on the screen, you must click the red “Click here to Drop a class for a closed enrollment term” button or the system will generate an error message.
3. Follow the prompts to complete the process.
4. See our detailed how-to guide for step-by-step instructions.

Post-7th Week Deadline (Graduate Students)

See the “Medical/Mental Health or Personal Hardship Petitions” section below.

Late Drop/Pre-12th Week Deadline (Undergraduate students only)

1. Go to Student Central > My Classes > Enrollment: Drop Classes. Select the correct semester.
2. When your schedule appears on the screen, you must click the red “Click here to Drop a class for a closed enrollment term” button or the system will generate an error message.
3. Follow the prompts to generate the drop form.
4. Send the PDF drop form to OASIS.
5. See our detailed how-to guide for step-by-step instructions.
6. If it is after the 12th week of class, you may only petition for drops on the basis of medical, mental health, or unforeseen personal hardship.

Medical/Mental Health or Personal Hardship Petitions

Medical/mental health course drop petitions are considered by committees through University Health Services which return a recommendation to the Academic Dean’s representative. Circumstances must have impacted the student during the semester in question and require supporting documentation provided by a state-licensed medical or mental health care provider.

1. Complete the online petition form.
2. If applicable, a member of the OASIS staff will send a medical/mental health application packet to the student’s FSU email account in 1-3 business days.
3. Complete the application packet and submit it and documentation to UHS as outlined in the packet.
   • Do not submit medical/mental health documentation to OASIS or the CEHHS Dean’s office.
4. Once the UHS committee returns a recommendation, you will be notified of the decision by the academic dean’ representative in OASIS. CEHHS policy requires that approval or denial follow the recommendation of the UHS committee for medical/mental health drops.

All withdrawal petitions require that a student notify the applicable academic dean’s representative of intent to withdraw and then to initiate the process through the Office of Withdrawal Services. Additional questions beyond the information below should be emailed to the appropriate OASIS staff member.

Lower-division undergraduate students (pre-/NFA- majors) must contact their Dean’s Office in the Office of Undergraduate Studies.

Medical/Mental Health Withdrawals

Medical/mental health withdrawal petitions are considered by committees through University Health Services (UHS) which return a recommendation to OASIS. Circumstances must have impacted the student during the semester in question and required supporting documentation provided by a state-licensed medical or mental health care provider.

1. Contact the appropriate academic dean’s representative.
2. Contact the Office of Withdrawal Services to initiate the withdrawal petition.
3. Submit all documentation to UHS as outlined in the withdrawal dashboard.
   • Do not submit medical/mental health documentation to OASIS or the Academic Dean’s office.
4. Once the committee returns a recommendation, you will be notified of the decision by a member of the OASIS staff. CEHHS policy requires that approval or denial follow the recommendation of the committee for medical/mental health drops.

Personal Hardship Withdrawals

1. Complete the online petition form. Submitting this form satisfies the requirement to contact the Academic Dean’s office.
   • Personal hardship withdrawal petitions are required to submit documentation as part of the petition form. Petitions may not be submitted without cause-specific supporting documentation.
2. Contact the Office of Withdrawal Services to initiate the withdrawal petition.
3. After the withdrawal has been initiated through OWS, the Academic Dean will consider the petition and documentation.
   • Depending on circumstances and submitted documentation, the Academic Dean may require additional information or documentation before rendering a decision.
4. Once the committee returns a recommendation, you will be notified of the decision by a member of the OASIS staff. CEHHS policy requires that approval or denial follow the recommendation of the committee for medical/mental health drops.

Drops and withdrawals initiated prior to the end of the seventh week of classes do not require documentation of circumstances. However, there is no tuition/fee liability waiver for any courses dropped or withdrawals simply through a pre-7th week process.

Medical and mental health circumstances must, by university policy, have occurred and/or impacted the student during the semester in question and must have supporting documentation provided by a state-licensed medical or mental health care provider.

Personal circumstances for course drops or withdrawal must have been unforeseen, exceptional circumstances beyond the control of the student and must meet one of the following criteria:

• Involuntary call to active military duty
• Death of the student or death in the immediate family (parent, spouse, child, sibling)
• Acute medical or mental health condition of the student of such duration or severity, as confirmed in writing by a clinician, that completion of the term is precluded
• Cancellation of the course by the University
• Other exceptional circumstances that could not have been foreseen and were beyond the control of the student

Tuition/fee liability for coursework may not meet the criteria as an exceptional circumstance for the approval of a withdrawal. 

Important: The academic dean's office cannot waive tuition/fee liability or approve tuition refunds for personal withdrawals. Eligibility for tuition refunds for approved personal withdrawals for exceptional  and unforeseen circumstances, beyond the control of the student, can only be approved by the University refund committee.

Under special circumstances, degree-seeking graduate students may apply for a leave of absence from the University for a specific period of up to three consecutive semesters (includes Summer term). The circumstances justifying a leave include but are not limited to personal or family medical conditions, call to active military duty, parental leave, death in immediate family, or completion of an off-campus internship. The student must provide appropriate documentation and a rationale for the leave request.

To apply for a leave of absence for two to three future semesters, a student must complete the Request for Leave of Absence Form at https://gradschool.fsu.edu/forms and submit it together with appropriate documentation to the major professor/advisor/Program Director. If the major professor/advisor/Program Director approves the application, it must then be forwarded to the department head and subsequently to the college's academic dean for consideration. If approved at all of these levels, the college academic dean will notify the Registrar's Office and the Dean of the Graduate School (or designee) of the decision. The college academic dean should also notify the student of the decision (approved or denied). The Registrar's Office will place a notation on the student's record. A student who is denied a request for leave at any step may appeal the decision to the Dean of The Graduate School (or designee).

Important:

• Retroactive Leave of Absence Requests are not permissible. The Leave of Absence application must be completed, submitted, and approved at all levels prior to the start of the first semester that the Leave of Absence is requested.
• A Leave of Absence Request is for two to three future semesters. A leave of absence is not meant for one semester or term of non-enrollment and requests for a one semester/term Leave of Absence cannot be approved.
• Leave of Absence Requests for the semester of admission or readmission are not permissible.

How does a Leave of Absence work?

An approved leave of absence preserves the student's academic status in his or her degree program, and the time off will not be counted against the time limits for awarding degrees. Consequently, registration is not required or permitted during the leave period and the student need not re-apply to the program to return to active status at the end of the approved leave period. A leave may be extended for additional consecutive semesters (includes Summer term). A student should apply for the leave extension no later than four weeks prior to the end of the final semester/term of his or her initial leave to allow time to consider and process the request. Extension of a leave is subject to approval of the program, college, and the Graduate School. The cumulative number of consecutive leave semesters (including summer term) shall not exceed six. The total consecutive or non-consecutive leave time a student is not registered in the program shall not exceed twenty-four months. At the conclusion of the approved leave, a student must enroll at Florida State University and return to active status no later than the start of the next academic semester. Students cannot be on leave during their semester of graduation and must be registered for a minimum of two hours that semester.

A student on a leave of absence may terminate the leave at any time prior to the approved ending date. In such cases the student would be immediately subject to the continuous enrollment and registration policies. Students returning from a leave of absence of more than one year will be required to disclose any legal or campus disciplinary charges that arose during the leave and provide updated contact and mailing address, residency documentation, and other biographical information as required by the University for reporting and processing purposes.

Programs may have more strict leave of absence and registration policies. For example, a program may decide that under no circumstances would it allow a formal leave of absence, or a program may choose to only allow a leave of not more than three consecutive semesters. Such policies shall be detailed in the program's graduate student handbook.

Will I have access to University resources during an approved Leave of Absence?

While on leave a student will not have access to campus facilities and personnel. This means a student will not have access to labs, libraries, and online resources that require an FSUID. Students on leave cannot remain in student housing. There is no guarantee that financial aid will be continued. Students with financial aid or student loans should confer with the Financial Aid Office and review their loan agreements prior to requesting a leave of absence to ascertain the consequences a leave will have on their loan status. University assistantship and fellowship support will be discontinued for the duration of the leave. Programs are not obligated to reinstate funding support that was provided prior to the leave though they are encouraged to do so if funds are available. Students receiving external support, e.g., an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, should check the terms of the award to determine the impact of being on leave. In-state residency status may be impacted if the student moves out of the State of Florida, and then returns to resume the degree program. Students should seek guidance from the Registrar on the potential impact on in-state residency. International students should check with the Center for Global Engagement to determine if a leave would adversely affect their visa status. Students should also consider other factors that might impact their circumstances upon their return to active status. For example, a major professor might depart the University, or under extreme circumstances a degree program might be suspended or terminated. The University has an obligation to provide a path to completion for enrolled students as well as students on a formally approved leave of absence. 

Note: If allowed by the student's academic program and University policy, an alternative to taking an official leave could involve reducing the standard course load temporarily because of exceptional personal circumstances.

Contact Lisa Beverly, OASIS, for questions at lbeverly@fsu.edu.