Students may request a leave of absence from their academic program in cases where personal circumstances temporarily disable them from achieving progress. Leave of absences are granted with the reasonable expectation that the student will return from the leave. The University may grant leave of absences to a student who did not provide a request earlier due to unforeseen circumstances. In these cases, the University will determine the beginning date for the approved leave of absence, and will collect the request from the student at a later date.
All requests for a leave of absence must be made in writing, signed and dated. The Registration Department will evaluate all requests on a case-by-case basis; these must include the reason for the student’s request, and are subject to further documentation before receiving authorization. All documentation will remain confidential at the Registration Department. Notification of authorized leave of absence will be issued to the student, including the scheduled date for return. This notification will also be made available to concerning departments.
Students must return to the university by the date for which the period for the authorized leave of absence ends. If a student fails to enroll in the semester following the last term in the authorized leave of absence, the student will have failed to maintain continuous enrollment, and will be treated as a withdrawal. After two consecutive semesters of non-enrollment, students must follow the procedures for readmission, outlined in this catalog. A student returning from a leave of absence is required to resume training at the same point of the academic program that he or she began.