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The Academic Leave of Absence policy is applicable to all officially admitted and enrolled students in degree programs at Northcentral University. If a student is not actively enrolled in a program, the student is not eligible to apply for a leave of absence (LOA). Students provisionally admitted are not eligible for an LOA until the University receives official transcripts and the basis for admission is met. The minimum duration of an approved LOA is 14 days; the maximum duration is 60 days. The total of all LOAs may not exceed 180 calendar days in a rolling 12-month period. The rolling 12-month period begins on the first day of the student’s initial LOA.
If a student needs to request a subsequent LOA, but unforeseen circumstances prevent the student from doing so, the University may grant a subsequent LOA if it has documented the reason and decision. The University must receive the signed LOA request from the student before the end of the subsequent LOA, and the request must be approved by the University’s LOA committee. Unforeseen circumstances may include, but are not limited to, medical and family emergencies, military, jury duty, business travel, inclement weather and natural disasters.
During an LOA, the student is not considered withdrawn and no Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation is required for financial aid recipients. The University will not impose additional charges when the LOA ends and students return to their program of study. When a student withdraws from a course and is approved for an LOA, upon return from that LOA, the student will not be re-charged for the course they previously withdrew from. Additionally, if a student returns to a different course, they will not be charged.
Students must request an LOA, by proactively providing the academic advisor (on or before the start of the LOA) a written, signed, and dated request, including the reason for the LOA.
An LOA will not be approved if a student requests an LOA after 14 consecutive days of nonattendance, and/or the request is not due to unforeseen circumstances that occurred prior to the 15th day of nonattendance. Students who are out of attendance 15-28 days and do not fit the criteria of an extenuating circumstance, must return to class no later than the 28th day of non-attendance or be administratively withdrawn.
If a student requests an LOA start date in the future and is officially or administratively withdrawn from the University prior to the start date of the LOA, the LOA is null and void and the student will be considered withdrawn effective their last date of attendance.
NOTE: Time spent on an LOA counts toward program length and is included when determining if a student can complete their degree program within the maximum time limits.
Access to University Resources During Leave
Students on leave do not maintain access to faculty, the online courseroom, or the Academic Success Center coaching service. Access to other university resources such as the NCU Library may also be limited while a student is on leave.
When doctoral candidates are not actively enrolled in a course, they have limited communication with NCU support staff and may not engage in certain activities related to their research. Specifically, doctoral candidates must be actively enrolled in a course to have contact with their dissertation chair. Doctoral candidates must also be actively enrolled in a dissertation course with NCU in order to recruit, obtain informed consent, have any contact with participants, or perform data collection f their Institutional Review Board (IRB) application has been approved.
Return from Leave
Students returning from ALOA remain in the degree program in which they were enrolled at the time the ALOA was approved.
If a student does not return to the University by the end of an approved LOA, the student is administratively withdrawn and an R2T4 calculation will be performed. To avoid being dismissed, the student must accept and vest in a course upon their LOA return date. The return course will be scheduled at the time of the LOA request and approval. It is the responsibility of the student to work with his or her Academic and Finance Advisor to begin a course on or before the date specified as the date of return from leave. The student’s withdrawal date is retroactive to the student’s last day of attendance (LDA).
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