If you need to leave the university, be sure to do it the right way.
Withdrawing From College
In This Section
Process
Life may present you with challenges such that you need to withdraw from college during a semester. Before you begin to complete the withdrawal form, you are strongly encouraged to speak with your academic advisor(s). If you need to withdraw from all your courses before the end of the ninth week of the semester, then you must go to your academic dean's office and get a Notification of Withdrawal form.
To begin the process, have your academic dean (see list of "Key Contacts" below) sign the form, and then take it to the appropriate offices to obtain signatures:
- Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) (Please speak with your academic advisor)
- Office of Student Accounting
- Office of Financial Aid (if you are receiving financial aid, including scholarships, grants, or loans)
- Office of Housing and Residence Life (if you live in university housing)
- Office of International Student and Scholar Services (if you are an international student)
Then bring the completed form to the Office of the Registrar. You can submit a withdrawal form by mail if you are too sick to come to campus. The date on which your academic dean signs the withdrawal form is considered the official withdrawal date.
Grades
If you leave the university without getting all required signatures and without submitting the Notification of Withdrawal form to the Registrar’s Office, you will receive a failing grade in each course for which you are registered in that semester.
If you officially withdraw from your college or school before the end of the ninth week of the semester, you will receive grades of “W” for all courses. If you leave your college or school during the final four weeks of the semester, you will receive grades of "F" in all courses.
Money and Student Accounting
Withdrawing from the university may impact your financial aid status. You may lose scholarships, and loans may come due for repayment.
You are not eligible for any refund of tuition unless the withdrawal is submitted to the Registrar's Office with all required signatures within the first six weeks of the semester. Get detailed information about refunds on tuition and fees.
If, after a leave of absence from the university, you want to re-enroll, you will need to follow the proper process for re-enrollment. Get more information about re-enrollment.
If you should have any questions about withdrawing from school, you should meet with your academic advisor. To set up an appointment with your academic advisor, please log into RU-N4Success.
Still Have Questions About Withdrawing From College?
As a student, you are part of a university community. The university has responsibilities for its students, and you have responsibilities to the university. By getting the proper signatures, you document that you have notified key offices of your intention not to return to the university. This helps the academic and administrative units to properly manage their work processes. It is difficult to manage the needs of our community if we don’t know which students are going to show up.
If you don’t follow the proper procedure for withdrawal, you will be assigned a grade of “F” for each course that you are enrolled in for that semester. This will bring down your GPA and can really hurt your chances of being able to re-enroll at Rutgers or of being accepted into any other college or university.
If you submit the properly signed withdrawal form within the first six weeks of the semester, you may be eligible to receive a refund. The actual refund that you receive is based on exactly which week you withdraw in, and on what your account balance is with the university. You can get detailed information about refunds on tuition and fees here.
Key Contacts
School/College Academic Advising Offices
Undergraduate Advising Offices
- Newark College of Arts and Sciences (NCAS-21) and University College–Newark (UCN-62)
- Rutgers Business School (RBS-29)
- School of Criminal Justice (SCJ-47)
- School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA-40)
- School of Nursing (SON-25)
- All Nursing New Brunswick based should refer to: https://nbregistrar.rutgers.edu/undergrad/s20ugcal.htm
Graduate Advising Offices