Withdrawal, Quarter-Off and On-Leave Policies

If you are withdrawing from summer quarter, skip to the Withdrawal Policies for Summer Quarter section.

It is your responsibility to withdraw from your courses if you are unable to attend for the quarter. 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, as list on the Current Quarter Drop webpage. 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you drop your last course using the Current Quarter Drop process and do not add another course you will be considered withdrawn for the quarter.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 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.

Please Note: Military and Veterans will need to meet with a Veterans Coordinator in the Veteran and Military Resource Center prior to submitting your withdrawal form.

Transcript Entry

If you totally 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 (see 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 (i.e. the date the Official Withdrawal form is received in-person), the date the last course is dropped, or the postmark date for withdrawals received by mail. 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 or within the first two weeks 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 (summer quarter excepted) 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 quarter and spring quarter, you must follow the returning former student process in order to register for autumn quarter. To re-enroll at the University, undergraduates will be required to submit a Returning Student Form to the University and will be required to pay all applicable admission fees. Please click here to learn more about the returning student re-enrollment process.

Note that withdrawing from one quarter and not attending/not registering for classes the subsequent quarter constitutes an absence of two consecutive quarters, which triggers the need for a Returning Student Form for undergraduate students.

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. 

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 listed on the Current Quarter Drop webpage. 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 (i.e. the date the Official Withdrawal form is received in-person), the date the last course is dropped, or the postmark date for withdrawals received by mail. 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 the Registration Eligibility section of the Time Schedule if you are withdrawing before the first course day of the quarter.

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 let them know your intentions of leaving 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 at court17@uw.edu or 253-274-9000.
• If you are receiving financial aid, please contact the Financial Aid Office (uwtfa@uw.edu or 253-692-4374) 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 (uwtiss@uw.edu or 253-692-4762) 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 do have the ability to forward your UW email to a personal, non-UW email address as a student and upon separation from the University.

If you are an undergraduate student who has completed the preceding quarter here at the University of Washington Tacoma, you may take a quarter off under the Quarter-Off Eligibility Policy. The Quarter-Off Eligibility Policy is not available to graduate students.

Subject to college, school and departmental enrollment policies, undergraduate students who have completed a quarter may take the following quarter off and remain eligible to register in Registration Period I for the subsequent quarter without re-applying. For example, a student completing autumn quarter may, without registering for or completing winter quarter, register during Registration Period I for spring quarter without re-applying as a returning student.

If a student withdraws from a quarter and does not enroll in the following quarter (not including summer quarter), they must submit an Returning Student Form for re-enrollment through the Office of Registrar by the posted deadlines.  Additionally, students who do not attend two or more consecutive quarters will need to re-apply for admission by the posted admission deadlines. 

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.

The quarter-off eligibility policy does not apply to graduate students. Graduate students are required to maintain continuous enrollment. Students who desire to take a quarter of 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.

See Graduate On-Leave Status 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 may or may not be eligible for a complete refund of tuition. For more information, see tuition forfeiture policies page.