Withdrawal, Quarter-Off and On-Leave Policies

It is your responsibility to withdraw from your courses if you are unable to attend for the quarter. Review the Current Quarter Drop page for timelines and instructions.

Through the end of the Unrestricted Drop Period, you may withdraw by dropping all courses from your MyUW registration page. Beginning the first day of the Late Course Drop period through the last date of instruction, you must withdraw by following the Advisor Assisted Drop process, since you will not be able to drop all courses using the MyUW registration tools.

If you drop your last course using the Current Quarter Drop processes and do not add another course you will be considered withdrawn for the quarter. Beginning the eighth calendar day of the quarter, if you drop your last course you will be charged a Change of Registration Service fee plus any tuition forfeiture.

No withdrawals are accepted after the last day of instruction.

Note: Military-connected students must meet with a Veterans Coordinator in the Veteran and Military Resource Center prior to withdrawing all your courses.

Transcript Entry

If you completely withdraw from a quarter during the first two weeks, the courses for that quarter are not recorded on your UW transcript; however, the date of the withdrawal is recorded and posted to the transcript. After this deadline, each course will be listed on an undergraduate’s transcript with a “RD” for Registrar Drop grade.

Tuition

Students who withdraw may be entitled to a refund of all or a portion of the tuition and fees for a given quarter depending on the time of the quarter the withdrawal is completed (go to Withdrawals or Refunds for Aid Recipients).  If you drop all of your courses, you will be charged a Change of Registration Service fee beginning the eighth calendar day of the term or quarter.

Tuition owed will be based upon the date the complete withdrawal is recorded at the Office of the Registrar, or the date that the last course is dropped through the Current Quarter Drop process. If you withdraw, the amount of the U-PASS fee to be refunded is based on the date of withdrawal and follows the tuition forfeiture schedule.

Withdrawal by International Students

In general, U.S. law requires F-1 and J-1 students to be registered full-time. This is defined as at least:

• 12 credits each quarter for undergraduate students
• 10 credits each quarter for graduate students

To make these requests, students must receive permission from an International Student Advisor in order drop class(es) from the quarter. Please see the International Student and Scholar Services website for more information about possible legal exceptions to this requirement.

Withdrawal by Newly Admitted Students

New students who withdraw prior to the first day of the quarter invalidates your status as a continuing student. You must submit a new admission application online through the Office of Admissions by the published application deadlines for each quarter depending on your admission type (freshman, transfer postbaccalaureate, graduate, international). Review your registration eligibility in the registration deadlines section on the Academic Calendar for details.

Withdrawals for Two Consecutive Quarters

Both undergraduates and graduate students who withdraw during the first week of two consecutive quarters (except summer quarter) will not be eligible to register as a continuing student for the third quarter. For example, if you withdraw during the first week of winter and spring quarters, you must follow the returning student process in order to register for autumn quarter. 

Be advised that if you withdraw from one quarter and do not register for classes in the following quarter, you will be considered absent for two consecutive quarters. This will require a Returning Student Form for undergraduate students. Click here to learn more about the returning student re-enrollment process.

Summer quarter at the University of Washington Tacoma is scheduled for nine weeks each summer. Students may register for A-term, B-term, Full-term or a combination of the three.

Full-term courses are held during the entire nine weeks. Courses held during the first four and a half weeks are considered "A-term." Courses held during the second four and a half weeks are considered "B-term." Withdrawal deadlines depend on whether the course is identified as an A, B or full term course and whether you are registered for only A-term, B-term or Full-term of the three course types.

It is the student's responsibility to withdraw when unable to attend for the quarter. Failing to attend class or notifying the instructor that you wish to drop a class does not constitute an official withdrawal from the course.  Review the Current Quarter Drop page for timelines and instructions.

Through the end of the Unrestricted Drop Period, you may withdraw by dropping all courses from your MyUW registration page. Beginning the first day of the Late Course Drop period through the last day of instruction, you must withdraw by following the Advisor Assisted Drop process, as you will not be able to completely withdraw or drop all courses using the MyUW registration tools.

If you drop your last course using the Current Quarter Drop process and do not add another course you will be considered withdrawn for the quarter. Beginning the either calendar day of the quarter, if you drop your last course you will be charged a Change of Registration Service fee plus any tuition forfeiture. 

Depending on the date you withdraw, you may incur a tuition forfeiture fee.

Transcript Entries

During summer quarter withdrawals shall be entered on your permanent record as follows:

• For full-quarter courses, during the first fourteen calendar days of the quarter only the date of withdrawal is recorded.
• For A-term courses, during the first seven calendar days of the quarter only the date of withdrawal is recorded.
• For B-term courses, from the first day of the quarter through the first seven calendar days of B-term only the date of withdrawal is recorded.

After these deadlines, the courses will be listed on an undergraduate’s transcript with a RD for Registrar Drop grade. Courses will be listed on a graduate student transcript with only a RD for Registrar Drop grade.

Tuition

Students who withdraw may be entitled to a refund of all or a portion of the tuition and fees for a given quarter depending on the time of the quarter the withdrawal is completed (see Withdrawals or Refunds for Aid Recipients.) If you withdraw, you will be charged a course Change of Registration Service fee beginning the eighth calendar day of the term or quarter. You will also be charged this fee if you withdraw after the first 40 percent of a Special Dates course is completed.

Tuition owed will be based upon the date the complete withdrawal is recorded at the Office of the Registrar, or the date that the last course is dropped through the Current Quarter Drop process. If you withdraw, the amount of the U-PASS fee to be refunded is based on the date of withdrawal and follows the tuition forfeiture schedule.

Withdrawal by Newly Admitted Students

Withdrawal from summer quarter prior to the first day of the quarter for a newly admitted student invalidates your status as a continuing student. You must submit a new admission application by the published closing dates for each quarter depending on your admission type (freshman, transfer, post-baccalaureate, graduate, international).  Review your registration eligibility in the registration deadlines section on the Academic Calendar for details.

Former Quarter Drop petitions may be submitted for dropping individual courses after the 14th calendar day of the quarter or after the drop deadline for A- or B-terms during Summer quarter.

Students may petition the Registrar for a Former Quarter Drop if circumstances beyond the student’s control prevented them from dropping the course by the drop deadline (the last day to drop an individual course for the quarter).

Former Quarter Drops will not be granted for course work that has already been applied to a completed degree. Petitions must be submitted within one year of the quarter being petitioned or have support for an extension from the student’s advisor.

Grades cannot be changed after a degree has been granted.

Petitions are reviewed and decided upon by a committee of representatives from the academic advising community, Office of Financial Aid, Disability Resource Center, Veteran & Military Resource Center & Office of the Registrar. All dates and deadlines referenced are based on the UW Academic Calendar and more specifically Course Drop Policy/Periods.

Please review the Former Quarter Drop webpage for more information.

If you are conscripted into the Armed Forces or called to active military duty during a quarter in which you are registered, you may either request to be withdrawn or request to receive credit or grades. The military withdrawal policy does not apply to students who voluntarily enlist.

As long as you are not registered for any courses for upcoming quarters that you are not planning to attend, there is no paperwork that you need to formally complete through the Office of the Registrar. Some things to keep in mind, however, depending on your situation:

• Make sure you have paid any tuition or fees you owe the University. If there are outstanding fees, this could result in holds placed on your records, preventing you from ordering transcripts.
• If you are in a major or graduate program, please inform your academic advisor of your intentions to leave and/or planned time to return.
• If you are in University housing or planned to be in for a future quarter, be sure to contact Housing and Residence Life.
• If you are receiving financial aid, please contact the Office of Student Financial Aid for assistance with any paperwork you may need to do.
• If you are an international student, please contact your advisor in the International Student and Scholar Services Office to make sure there is nothing you need to do through their office or issues involving your visa and requirements.
• Please be aware that the UW G Suite and/or UW Office 365 email & productivity platform account(s) and data that you create with your UW email address are temporary and will expire when you graduate and/or separate from the University. However, you will have access to MyUW for viewing your unofficial transcripts and ordering official transcripts and you will have the ability to forward your UW email to a personal, non-UW email address as a student and upon separation from the University.

Undergraduate students who have completed the prior quarter at the University of Washington Tacoma may take a quarter off under the Quarter-Off Eligibility Policy. Graduate students are not eligible (instead, review Graduate On-Leave Policy).

Subject to any academic departmental enrollment policies, undergraduate students who complete a quarter can take the following quarter off and still register for the subsequent quarter during Registration Period I without going through the Returning Student Re-Enrollment process. For example, a student completing autumn quarter may register during Registration Period I for the following spring quarter without registering for or completing winter quarter.

The Returning Student Re-Enrollment Process applies however, if the following conditions are met:

• if a student withdraws from a quarter and does not enroll in the following quarter (excluding summer quarter), or
• if a student does not attend two or more consecutive quarters 

Any quarter from which a student has completely withdrawn, or from which they canceled, does not constitute a completed quarter. Summer quarter enrollment is not required to maintain continuous registration eligibility.

Your U-PASS will not be active for any quarters in which you are not enrolled in classes.

Graduate students are required to maintain continuous enrollment. Students who desire to take one or more quarters off without going through the reinstatement process must apply for for on-leave status for each quarter they do not wish to register. To be eligible for on-leave status, graduate students must be in good standing, currently registered in a graduate student status or on-leave status and have completed at least one quarter of graduate study at UW Tacoma prior to filing an on-leave petition. Graduate students are not eligible for a U-PASS while on-leave.

Review the Graduate On-Leave Status website for on-leave eligibility, the procedure for requesting leave, and information about reinstatement.

WAC 478-160-305 on-leave status for graduate students.

Students who drop or withdraw from classes after the first day of the quarter may be subject to a change of registration fee and are not guaranteed a complete refund of tuition. For details, go to tuition forfeiture policies page.