The following information is provided to give you a general overview of the policies on late drops, withdrawals (official and unofficial), and medical withdrawals. Prior to dropping or withdrawing, students are encouraged to seek individual counseling by visiting the Office of Student Financial Assistance.
If you receive financial aid, the effects of each action listed below apply, regardless of the tuition refund policy.
Late Drops
The Office of Academic Services/Graduate Studies approves late drops for special circumstances. A late drop results in the course/s being removed from your class schedule, as if you were never registered in them. As a result, you may be ineligible for all or a portion of your financial aid, depending on the number of hours that you are dropping and the number of hours remaining. This action may affect all types of aid awarded.
Here are some questions to ask when considering petitioning for a late drop:
- What aid did I receive that is dependent on the number of hours I am enrolled in? (Please refer to the Program Eligibility Chart)
- How much will my awards be reduced if this drop is approved?
- What will the tuition credit be for the drop? (Your tuition credit will be applied toward the amount of aid owed to university.)
Official Withdrawal (Total Withdrawal)
If you withdraw from all your classes on or before the 60% point in time of the semester, which is calculated using calendar days, a portion of the total federal aid funds awarded must be returned, according to the provisions of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. The return of these funds will result in the student owing a balance to the University and/or the Federal Government. Please review the Treatment of Federal Aid When a Student Withdraws for details of this policy.
This calculated amount will be returned to the Title IV Programs in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Federal Stafford loans
- Subsidized Federal Stafford loans
- Federal Perkins loans
- Federal Grad PLUS loans
- Federal PLUS loans
- Federal Pell Grants
- Federal SEOG
- Federal TEACH Grants
- Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant
Medical Withdrawal
A Medical Withdrawal is requested when a student is suffering from a medical condition that prevents the completion of the semester. If a student is approved for medical withdrawal, a refund of tuition fees may also be approved. The student receives a “WM” which indicates on the academic record the student was withdrawn from classes due to medical reasons.
If you were approved for a Medical Withdraw on all the courses in the term, and received federal aid, you will be subject to the same rules of the Official Withdraw.
For more information on how to request a Medical Withdraw, please visit the Office of Academic Services.
Things you should consider before withdrawing from one or more of your courses:
- Bright Futures awards will be reduced for withdrawn classes, including Medical Withdrawal. Please visit Bright Futures Awards for more details.
- If your aid has not been disbursed when a withdrawal occurs, you may lose eligibility for all or some of your financial aid program(s) if you are no longer enrolled in the minimum required credit hours for the program(s).
- Withdrawn and medically withdrawn classes do not count as completed hours and may affect your Satisfactory Academic Progress and renewal requirements for individual aid programs.
Additionally, students who repeatedly withdraw from all classes may be canceled for not meeting the Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Important questions to ask yourself:
- Will I meet the Standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress if this withdrawal is approved? If not, what do I do?
- Will I meet specific renewal requirements for specific programs for the next year? (Some of the programs that have additional requirements include Bright Futures, Benaquisto Scholarship (formerly known as FL Incentive), Florida Student Assistance Grant and other Scholarships.)
Unofficial Withdrawals (Stop Attending All Classes)
Federal law requires that UCF evaluate federal aid recipients who fail to earn any credit during a semester, in order to determine if the student stopped attending classes on or before the 60% point in the semester. Professors are required to provide attendance information for all students who receive an F, I, N, or U grade.
Students who are reported to have stopped attending all of their classes prior to the 60% point of the semester or whose professors report that they began attendance but cannot determine if the student stopped before the 60% point will be identified as students who “unofficially withdrew” from classes. Within 30 days, we are required to perform the Return to Title IV calculation and return funds to the federal programs resulting in the student owing a balance to the University.
For information on the tuition refund policy of the university, please visit the appropriate catalog.
For information on how Bright Futures awards are affected by drops, withdrawals, and medical withdrawals, please go to Bright Futures Awards.