Leave of Absence

Typically, a graduate student may apply for a leave of absence of no more than two long semesters. Requests for a leave of absence must be recommended by your faculty adviser to your program area's Area Chair, who will send a leave of absence request to the Graduate Advisor (including details regarding duration and reason for the leave), who will then notify the Dean of Graduate Studies. 

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A student on leave of absence may not use University facilities or receive advice from any member of the faculty. A student who is on leave of absence (or not registered for some other reason) cannot gather data for research.

Withdrawing from a Program

Students also have the option to voluntarily withdraw from a program. Students who drop their entire course load by definition withdraw from the University for the semester.

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