Leave of absence

An admitted graduate student in good academic standing may request a leave of absence. A leave of absence (LoA) is a hiatus of a student's studies during which they are not registered and are not engaged in any phase of research or aspects of an exam, project, thesis, or dissertation. A leave of absence provides a guarantee that the student will be allowed to return to their graduate program at the agreed-upon time and exempts the student from the continuous enrollment requirement (applicable only to advanced Ph.D. students). However, a leave of absence does not constitute a waiver of the time limit for completion of a graduate program nor the one-year limit for completion of a course. 

A leave of absence is granted for a specific time period, up to a maximum of three terms (excluding summer). Students may request more than one leave of absence but all leaves combined cannot exceed six terms. A student with an approved leave of absence cannot: register for any coursework; engage in any phase of research or aspects of an exam, project, thesis, or dissertation; or engage in any activities that require faculty time or use of University resources. It is the student's responsibility to drop or withdraw from all courses as well as notify other appropriate offices on campus of their leave status (e.g. Financial Aid).

A Graduate Leave of Absence Request must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than the Friday of the second week of the term for which the leave of absence should take effect. A leave of absence will not be approved retroactively.