Leaves and Withdrawals

What Are My Options?

• A Leave of Absence is a temporary break from Emerson. Graduate students can be on leave for up to one year, and Undergraduates can be on leave for up to two years. After that time, students will be administratively changed to a Withdrawn status. Returning from a leave requires an Online Readmission Form.
• A Health Leave of Absence is meant for students taking a leave mid-semester for health reasons. They follow the same duration limits as a standard LOA. Health leaves may be eligible for tuition insurance claims. Returning from a Health Leave of Absence requires a Health Readiness to Return Form in addition to the Online Readmission Form.
• A Withdrawal signifies a permanent decision not to return to Emerson College. Please note that withdrawing from the College is separate from a course withdrawal; you cannot withdraw from the institution by dropping or withdrawing from individual courses.

Request Process

Undergraduate Students

You are encouraged to schedule a meeting with Anthony Rodriguez, Assistant Director for Student Leaves and Returns, before submitting the online request form. It is recommended to review the LOA/WD Checklist before submitting your request or meeting with us.

Graduate Students

Discuss your intention to leave or withdraw directly with your Graduate Program Director, then complete the online request form.

International Students

Consult the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) prior to form submission. Leaves directly impact your F-1 visa status and future CPT/OPT work eligibility. Once discussed, complete the online request form.

New Students

You cannot use the request form before the standard census reporting deadlines (October 15 for fall and March 1 for spring). If you decide not to attend before the first day of classes, contact admission@emerson.edu (or gradadmission@emerson.edu, for Graduate Students). If you need to request a leave or withdraw after the first day of classes, but before our census reporting deadline, contact anthony_rodriguez@emerson.edu.

Speech@Emerson Students

Review the Speech@Emerson LOA Checklist and consult your Speech@Emerson Student Success Advisor. They may refer you to your Faculty Advisor or Graduate Program Director. Once discussed, complete the online request form.

Performing Arts BFA Students

Because classes are sequentially structured, you must contact the Performing Arts Department prior to form submission. Readmission eligibility depends on course availability and sequence timing. Once discussed, complete the online request form.

Global BFA in Film Art Students

Because the Global BFA is a joint program with Paris College of Art (PCA), enrollment updates must be filed at both institutions to be considered official. No leave or withdrawal will be processed or considered official until the student has filed with Emerson College. If your leave or withdrawal occurs during a term spent at PCA, contact Alana Manga (alana.manga@paris.edu) to complete PCA’s request process. However, such contact does not replace the need to officially file for a leave or withdrawal with Emerson. Please see the ‘Considerations for Global BFA in Film Art Students‘ section below for more information.

Online Request Form

After reviewing this page, you can complete the Leave of Absence/Withdrawal Request Form to start the process. You will receive an email confirmation once all offices have fully processed the request.

Financial and Billing Impacts

Leaves Between Semesters

Full semester charges are completely canceled if filed prior to the first day of classes, provided you have not occupied campus housing (see Housing Costs below for early move-in rules). Please see our Academic Calendars to find the last day to withdraw from the College with a full refund.

Housing Costs

Adjustments to your room and board billing for Boston campus housing costs are based on a daily, prorated basis until the end of the 5th week of the semester (after which students bear full responsibility for housing costs). The exception is a Health Leave, which remains prorated daily regardless of the week.

Billing continues until your belongings are fully removed and keys are returned to a dedicated express checkout box in the lobby of your residence hall. If you submit your request before the start of classes, but have already moved into on-campus housing, you will be charged a per-day rate until you have moved out your belongings and returned your key.

Tuition Responsibility

Tuition responsibility scales upward in 20% increments each week across the first five weeks of the term. Please see our Refund/Withdrawal Policy for details on tuition responsibilities. Students with any outstanding balance will not be eligible to return from leave.

Financial Aid

Unlike tuition adjustments, financial aid is earned on a day-by-day basis (roughly 1% daily). If you take a leave before reaching the 60% point of the semester, federal Return to Title IV regulations require unearned aid funds to be sent back to lenders in a strict regulatory order (beginning with Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans, Subsidized Federal Direct Loans, then PLUS Loans, followed by Pell Grants, FSEOG, TEACH, and Iraq/Afghanistan Service Grants). This calculation can occasionally leave an outstanding balance on your student account, which must be resolved before readmission.

Federal or state financial aid for the semester in which a student leaves or withdraws will be reduced according to your last date of attendance or participation in an academically-related activity. Institutional aid (scholarships and grants awarded by Emerson College) will not be reduced.

Mandatory Student Loan Exit Counseling

Note: Failure to complete this step results in a registration hold. Federal law requires that any student dropping below half-time enrollment complete online loan exit counseling at studentaid.gov/exit-counseling.

Borrowers of the Massachusetts No Interest Loan will receive exit counseling instructions via email.

Borrowers of alternative (private) loans are advised to contact their lender for more information about loan repayment.

Student Loan Repayment

Students have a 6-month grace period from dropping below half-time enrollment before they must begin making payments on their loans.

Tuition Insurance

If you are filing a mid-semester Health Leave and did not opt out of Tuition Insurance, your health leave may be eligible for a tuition insurance claim. Emerson College will not certify tuition insurance claims for personal (non-medical) Leaves of Absence.

Scholarships

Institutional scholarships are typically protected if you return within the allowed timeline. For any scholarship questions specific to your student account, please sign in to the SFS Portal to contact your dedicated Student Financial Services Advisor

Moving Out of Housing

On-campus residents must vacate housing within 24 hours of form submission (48 hours for Health Leaves). Coordinate departure with a Residence Director or email hre@emerson.edu. Room and board are charged daily until move-out is complete and keys are returned.

Building Tap Access & Campus Life

Student ID cards are deactivated upon final processing of your leave or withdrawal request. You will not be eligible for varsity sports, co-curriculars, or campus student employment.

Emerson Email and Account Login Access

Emerson’s email and account access remain active during a leave of absence. Students who withdraw will lose all account access 30 days after their withdrawal request is processed. See Account Access for Departing Students.

Academic Considerations

Grades for In-Progress Courses

Mid-semester leaves result in “W” (Withdrawn) indicators for your courses. These do not impact your cumulative GPA, but they do factor into calculations for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), which dictates long-term financial aid eligibility.

Course Credit and Incompletes

You cannot earn credit for active courses during the semester you take leave, and you cannot open a new Incomplete contract. If you possess a pre-existing Incomplete contract from a prior semester, you may continue working on it; the leave does not change the original due date(s) of your contract.

Transferring Credits

If you intend to take coursework elsewhere during your leave to transfer back, you must submit a Transfer Credit Application for your intended courses.

Considerations for Global BFA in Film Art Students

Housing

Room and board charges for students taking a leave or withdrawing during a term at Paris College of Art are nonrefundable.

Cohort Model Re-Entry

Global BFA students interested in returning to their program from a leave must consult with and be pre-approved by the GBFA program directors in Boston and Paris. This program operates on a fixed sequence. You must re-enter during the same academic term (Fall, Spring, or Summer) in which your leave took effect, within a two-year window. For example, if you take a leave before or during the fall term, you can only re-enter during one of the subsequent two fall terms. Extensions or earlier returns are evaluated only if you have missed 16 or fewer credits.

Program Limitation

Readmission from a Global BFA leave applies strictly to the Global BFA program; you cannot use this process to transfer into a different standalone program at Emerson or PCA.

Early Readmission Deadlines

• Fall Re-entry: May 1
• Spring Re-entry: October 1
• Summer Re-entry: February 1