A Leave of Absence (LOA) is a temporary interruption in a student’s program of study. LOA refers to the specific time period during an ongoing program when a student is not in academic attendance.
LOA will be granted for documented leaves:
- In accordance with Title IX for pregnancy or child birth.
- If a student is called into active duty for the military.
- Recommended leave from a professional for mental health.
- On a case-by-case basis, the school will also consider a LOA for a student who has experienced a personal medical emergency.
These are the only times leave of absences are granted.
In order to be placed on LOA, the student must:
- Complete and sign the school’s Leave of Absence Request Form.
- Must state the reason for the (LOA).
- Students who receive military orders must provide a copy of their military orders. This timeframe must be reflected on the student’s military orders.
- Students who requesting a medical leave must provide a medical/mental health documentation, or a recommendation from a physician. It must state recommended length of leave.
- Be approved by the school’s Future Professional Advisor and Financial Services Leader.
- Leaves must be a minimum of 7 Days and must not exceed a total of 180 calendar days in a 12-month period. A leave of absence will not be granted if the LOA together with any additional LOA’s previously granted, exceed a total of 180 calendar days in any 12-month period.
A student on a LOA date of withdrawal determination shall be the earlier of the scheduled date of return from the leave of absence or the date the student notifies the school that the student will not be returning. A leave of absence will extend the student’s contract period and maximum time frame by the same number of calendar days taken in the leave of absence.
If a student does not return to school on the documented return date the student will be considered a non-return and the student will be dropped from the program. A student may extend the documented leave with additional documentation and a signed leave addendum if submitted before the expected return date.
There will be no additional charges for a LOA. If the student fails to return or contact the School Financial Services Leader on the documented return date, the student will be considered to have withdrawn from school as of that date the student began the LOA. The withdrawal date for the purpose of calculating a refund is always the student’s last day of attendance.
For federal aid recipients, the student’s payment period is suspended during the LOA and no federal financial aid will be disbursed to student while on a LOA. Upon the student’s return, the student will resume the same payment period and coursework and will not be eligible for additional federal student aid until the payment period has been completed. If the student is a federal student loan recipient, they will be informed of the effects that the failure to return from a leave may have on the student’s loan repayment terms, including the exhaustion of the student’s grace period. A contract addendum will be completed upon return from the LOA to extend the contract end date by the applicable number of days. Should a disbursement be made to the school during a leave period those funds will be returned to Title IV and no longer be a payment made to the students accounts.
In special circumstances, the school may grant a LOA to a student in the case of an emergency, where the student is unable to complete the request, such as a car accident or other medical issue (i.e., coma) that would prevent the student from requesting the LOA prior to the incident occurring. In these cases, the school will collect the request from the students as soon as possible and document the reason for the granting of the leave after the incident has occurred. The beginning date of the LOA will be based on the first date it has been determined that the student cannot come to class due to the accident or medical situation.
In order to grant a Leave of Absence there must be the expectation that the student will be returning to school. For the school to make such a determination and ensure that the student meets the criteria in the school’s LOA policy, the school must know the student’s reason for requesting the leave.
A student who is granted a LOA that meets these criteria is not considered to have withdrawn and no R2T4 refund calculation is required at that time.
If a student does not return from a LOA, the grace period for the Direct Loans may have elapsed in part or in whole. If the student uses 180 days of a LOA, the student will have used 100% of his/her grace period and be in immediate repayment of his/her Direct Loan.
Changes to the contract period on the enrollment agreement due to an approved LOA must be initialed by all parties or an addendum must be signed and dated by all parties to reflect the new contract end date.