A Voluntary Leave of Absence is a self-initiated action by the student at any point of the semester resulting in temporary discontinuation of study. The student may consider a voluntary leave of absence when there is an extenuating circumstance that renders the fulfillment of a student’s academic responsibilities no longer possible. A Leave can only be applied to the fall or spring semester. Winter and summer sessions are not regular semesters and are not eligible for leaves.
Potential reasons include:
Health concerns
Financial concerns
Employment
Family or personal matters
Students requesting to withdraw from all classes in a given semester can only do so by following the steps to take a Voluntary Leave of Absence or Withdrawal from College.
Steps for Student self- initiating Voluntary Leave of Absence
Steps for students returning from Voluntary Leave of Absence
What happens if I do not register or submit for an official leave of absence?
*VLOA is an academic policy only. We do not have a leave policy for Title IV funding. Students who take a leave are considered withdrawn for the leave semester for financial aid reporting purposes.
Requiring a student to take a leave of absence is rare and only happens when current medical knowledge and/or the best available objective evidence indicates to the University that there is a significant risk to the student's health or safety, or the health or safety of others in the Campus community, or the student's behavior severely disrupts the University environment, where no reasonable accommodations can adequately reduce that risk or disruption.
For more information about the Involuntary Leave of Absence for Students Policy, including information about the process, decision making and returning from an involuntary leave, please visit the SUNY policy website.
