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. Leaves of Absence can be granted for the following reasons:
- Cases of emergency or medical problems, which cause attendance to be impossible or impractical
- In the case of pregnancy or new mothers
- If a student is called into active duty for the military
These are the only times leave of absences are granted. A leave of absence will extend the student’s contract period and maximum time frame by the same number of days taken in the leave of absence.
In order to be placed on Leave of Absence, the student must:
- Complete and sign the school’s Leave of Absence Request Form in advance, unless unforeseen circumstances prevent the student from doing so.
- Must state the reason for the Leave of Absence (LOA) request.
- Students who receive military orders must provide a copy of their military orders.
- Be approved by the Financial Aid Office and Future Professional Advisor.
- Leaves must be a minimum of 14 days and must not exceed a total of 180 days in a 12-month period. In the case of a student receiving military orders that are less than 14 days, the LOA will be granted for the shorter period of time. This timeframe must be reflected on the student’s military orders.
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.
There will be no additional charges for a LOA. If the student fails to return or contact the School Financial Aid Leader on the documented return date, the student will be considered to have withdrawn from school as of that date the student began the LOA.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 thefailure 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.
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.
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.