Withdrawal from a Course/Semester

Course withdrawal indicates that a student intends to stop attending any or all courses for the current term. Course withdrawal for summer, fall and spring semesters can be accomplished at several times and deadlines are posted on the Office of the Registrar website. Students will use the Penguin Portal self-service registration functions to withdraw from one or more courses by the deadlines.

  • Students have until the 14th day of a full term to withdraw from a course or all courses and receive a 100% refund and no academic penalty or record of course registration; students withdrawing from an 8 week or less part of term course have until the 7th day.
  • Students may also withdraw from courses after the refund period. Students who withdraw during by the 60% deadline for the term or part of term are responsible for all financial obligations and earn a grade notation of a "W" on their transcript.
  • After the "W" deadline, students can no longer access withdrawal functions in the Penguin Portal to withdraw from any courses. Students may submit a request for withdrawal in writing to the Penguin Service Center, but the withdrawal will result in a mark of "F" recorded on a student's transcript.
  • When a withdrawal changes a student's status (i.e., full-time to part-time), the student immediately forfeits any privileges contingent upon full-time status, and all interested parties which legally require it will be notified.

Students who fail to withdraw from a course by the deadline, regardless of their level of class participation/attendance, are financially and academically responsible.  Non-attendance of class, or notification to the instructor/department, does not constitute official withdrawal. A student's lack of participation/attendance will likely result in the course instructor submitting a Non-Attendance F (NAF) grade for the student and a mark of "F" will be recorded on the student's transcript.  Therefore, all students are strongly encouraged to withdraw before the published deadlines.

Process/Procedure

All course registration takes place online through the Penguin Portal and students are not considered withdrawn from a registered course unless they have completed the withdrawal process.  Detailed instructions on registration, including how to drop a course or all courses for a semester are available on the Penguin Service Center website.

In general, students should follow the steps listed below prior to completing a course withdrawal or complete withdrawal for the semester:

  • Contact your academic advisor and/or program coordinator about any type of withdrawal.  Withdrawals may impact a student's time to degree completion.
  • Contact your athletic advisor if you are a student athlete and your withdrawal will mark you less than full-time credit status (below 12 credit hours).  Withdrawal may impact a student's athletic eligibility.
  • Contact the International Programs Office if you are an international student and your withdrawal will mark you less than full-time credit status (below 12 credit hours).  Withdrawal may impact an international student's visa eligibility.
  • Contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships if you receive Title IV financial aid.  Title IV financial aid counseling is a federal requirement and must be completed with a staff member prior to completely withdrawing for the current term.
  • Complete the online exit survey in the Penguin Portal prior to completely withdrawing for the current term if you are completely withdrawing during the "W" period. 

Exceptions

Late Withdrawal:

A withdrawal granted after the designated deadlines is known as late or retroactive withdrawal and may be granted in extraordinary circumstances. Students seeking a late withdrawal must do so in writing to the college in which the student's major lies by filing a "Petition for Late Withdrawal." Late withdrawal must be requested within one year from the last day of classes for the semester in which a withdrawal is requested.  The college dean or dean's designee will be responsible for reviewing the student's petition and providing a decision to the student; the decision of approval or denial shall be final and non-appealable. If the late withdrawal is approved, only courses with a grade of F will be changed to a grade of W.

A Petition for Late Withdrawal and the Repetition Form cannot be used for the same course. In other words, Petition for a Late Withdrawal cannot be processed for any course that was repeated and a recalculation of point average has processed and posted on the student's academic record.

Eligibility for Future Enrollment

New, readmitted and current students who withdraw from any or all courses after the 14th day of the term (7th day of the part of term) will be eligible for future registrations as long as their accounts are free from holds that prevent registration. The following student situations will only be able to register for future registrations once their start/return term is changed on record:

  • New students who withdraw from all courses prior to the 14th day of the term will not be eligible for future registrations unless they request that the Office of Admissions defer their application to a future term.
  • Readmitted students who withdraw from all courses prior to the 14th day of the term will not be eligible for future registrations unless they request that the Record's Office defer the readmission application to a future term.

Contact for Questions/Concerns

Office: Penguin Service Center
Location: Meshel Hall
Website:  https://ysu.edu/penguin-service-center and https://ysu.edu/registrars-office