Undergraduate Leaves of Absence and Withdrawals

The Center for Student Success processes leaves of absence and withdrawals for undergraduate students.

Due to COVID-19, we have transitioned to remote operations. Please email css@sandiego.edu for questions related to Leave of Absence and Withdrawals that are not addressed below. We will respond to you via email within our typical response time of 24-48 business hours.

Students planning to take a semester(s) off and return to USD should request a leave of absence. 

A student who will not be registered at the university during a regular semester (fall and/or spring) and would like to return without applying for readmission must request a leave of absence. We are now approving Leave of Absence requests for Fall 2020 semester. 

  • Keep in mind the tuition refund deadlines for each semester. Leave of Absence requests must be submitted no later than 5 PM on tuition refund deadline days to ensure timely processing. In order to receive a 100% tuition refund, students should request a Leave of Absence by the last Add/Drop day of the current semester (September 2 for Fall 2020 semester).  
  • Students may take a Leave of Absence for a maximum of two consecutive semesters.
  • To begin the Leave of Absence process, please complete the online .
    • Last Day of Attendance: Your Last Day of Attendance should be the last day you attended classes (or took finals) at the University of San Diego, for example: 5/21/2020. 
    • Remember to take the . 
  • Note: International Students must seek clearance from the  prior to requesting a leave of absence.
  • Once your Leave of Absence has been approved, please review  of offices you may need to contact.

If you have questions, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions page. If you have additional questions or have trouble accessing the Leave of Absence form, please send an email to  and we will respond to you within 24-48 business hours. 

Students no longer planning on taking classes at USD should request a withdrawal. 

A student withdrawing from the university during a semester or for a future semester must request a formal withdrawal through the Center for Student Success.

Failure to do so before leaving the campus or, in the case of illness or other emergencies, as soon as the decision not to continue has been made, will result in non-passing grades in all courses, thereby jeopardizing eligibility to re-enter the University of San Diego or acceptance in another institution.

After the last day to enroll in classes, and continuing through the end of the 10th week of the semester (the last day to withdraw from classes), students may process a withdrawal to drop all their classes with grades recorded as Ws. After the last day to withdraw from classes (October 26 for Fall 2020), the student will receive grades for courses.

A student whose registration at the university is interrupted for one or more semesters must apply for readmission through the  unless a leave of absence has been granted in writing.

  • In order to begin the withdrawal process, please complete the online .
    • Last Day of Attendance: Your Last Day of Attendance should be the last day you attended classes (or took finals) at the University of San Diego, for example: 5/21/2020. 
    • Remember to take the . Requests will not be approved unless the survey has been completed. 
  • Note: International Students must seek clearance from the  prior to requesting a withdrawal.
  • To incur no tuition charges, students should request a withdrawal before the first day of classes. Withdrawal requests must be submitted by 5 PM on tuition refund deadline days to ensure timely processing. In order to receive a 100% tuition refund for the current semester, students should request a withdrawal by the the deadline (September 2 for Fall 2020).  
  • Once your withdrawal has been approved, please review  of offices you may need to contact.

If you have questions please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions page. If you have additional questions or trouble accessing the withdrawal form, please send an email to  and we will respond to you within 24-48 business hours. 

The CSS does not process medical leaves of absence or graduate student leaves or withdrawals. More information about these options is below:

Additionally, admitted students who would like to defer their enrollment to USD must contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Admitted students who would like to decline their acceptance from USD can indicate this on the Admitted Tab of their MySanDiego portal. Please locate the "Change of Plans" portal and complete the form located there.