Undergraduate Late Drop and Semester Withdrawal

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Guidelines

Students may request to drop a course (or courses) after the current term's drop deadline using the approved university petition form below. 

Types of Withdrawals

There are two types of approved late withdrawals, WA and WB. Both show on the official transcript as a “W”.  The symbol “W” on the official transcript indicates that the student was approved to withdraw from the course after the drop deadline. It carries no connotation of quality of student performance and is not used in calculating grade point average or progress points.

• What is considered a WA drop/withdrawal?

  • WA is assigned for serious and compelling reasons that a student might have had the opportunity to anticipate prior to the semester drop deadline.

    Undergraduate students are limited to 18 units of WA drops.
    Postbaccalaureate students are limited to 12 units of WA drops.

• What is considered a WB drop/withdrawal?

  • WB is assigned for serious and compelling reasons that are clearly beyond the student's control, usually emergencies. 

    There is no unit limit on approved WB withdrawals. 

Note: Open University and Special Session students are subject to the same criteria and limits as regularly enrolled (matriculated) students. Open University Student need to use the Undergraduate Drop forms.

Summer 2022 Late Drop/Withdrawal

Students should submit a separate petition for each course/semester withdrawal request. If you are enrolled in only one course, submit the semester withdrawal petition and not the single course drop petition.

• Instructions

  • Please read the Instructions carefully to avoid delays in processing your petition.

    NOTE: Approval of this petition does not guarantee refund of tuition and fees, or financial aid. Please contact the Bursar’s Office or the Financial Aid Office with questions about these issues.

• Personal Statement requirements

  • Your personal statement should describe:

    1. The extenuating circumstance, 

    2. How it affected your ability to succeed academically,

    3. Why the drop was not done before the drop deadline, 

    4. Why you are only dropping one course or a set of courses and not withdrawing from the semester, and

    5. How dropping one or all your courses will help you to succeed.

• Examples of Supporting Documentation

  • Supporting Documentation (on letterhead and PDF format) must show your extenuating circumstance(s), and must match the dates of the term in which you are requesting the drop/withdrawal. ALL DOCUMENTATION IS SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION.

    1. Medical Related (self or family): complete Healthcare Provider Form [pdf]
    2. Mental Health: letter(s) from counselor, or therapist, or psychiatrist, and/or Healthcare Provider Form
    3. Employment Related: letter from employer on letterhead or work schedule (clearly identifying hours and/or change in schedule)
    4. Death (immediate family): death certificate or obituary/memorial service card (if certificate cannot be issued)—documents must include dates
    5. Personal/Financial Hardships: documents identifying hardships with specific dates
    6. Legal Issues/Divorce: legal documents identifying incident(s)
    7. Accidents/Natural Disaster: insurance claim, police report, or legal documents regarding incident(s)
    8. Administrative Error: letter(s) from university faculty or staff on university letterhead or email
    9. Military: documentation from Commanding Officer (CO)

    Note: Make sure all sensitive information (SSN, record numbers, DOB, etc.) is removed from the document before uploading.

• Not approved reasons for dropping courses.

  • The following are NOT valid reasons for dropping courses: 
    poor academic performance,
    non-attendance,
    change of major, or
    lack of prerequisite(s).

    Requests for these reasons will be denied.

• Forms

  • SUMMER 2022 Withdrawal Form [DocuSign] 
    available June 6 (8:00am) to August 5 (5:00pm)
    - use this petition to drop all your courses from the Summer Session term.

    SUMMER 2022 Single Course Drop Request [DocuSign] 
    available June 6 (8:00am) to August 5 (5:00pm)
    - If enrolled in ONLY one course, please use semester withdrawal form.

Retroactive Drop/Withdrawal

• How to initiate a retroactive request retroactive request for drop(s) and/or semester withdrawal.

  •  To initiate a retroactive course drop or semester withdrawal, students must first meet with an academic advisor in their college student success center or UASC for undeclared students (see directory) to discuss their extenuating circumstances and if a retroactive withdrawal or course drop from a previous semester is appropriate. If so, an advisor may provide a recommendation to Undergraduate Education via email to initiate a petition.

    Advisor's recommendation must include the following:
    1. Student name
    2. Student email 
    3. SJSU ID 
    4. Withdrawal/drop term and year
    5. Course prefix, course number, instructor's name and email [only required for course drop]
    6. Department chair or Advisor name [only required for semester withdrawal]
    7. College Associate Dean [only required for semester withdrawal]

    The student will receive an email with a link to complete the petition and attach their personal statement and supporting documentation.

    Petitions without personal statement or supporting documentation will be DENIED.

• Spring 2022

  • Spring 2022 Late Drop and Semester Withdrawal Forms - were available from Feb 23 to Apr 22 (5:00pm). 

    Students need to follow the above instructions to submit form(s). 

FAQ's

•  If my instructor signed the late drop petition, does that mean the petition was approved?

  • No, the petition is a formal notice of your intent to drop the course and the instructor’s signature is an acknowledgment of your intent to drop the course. 
    
    It is recommended to talk with or email your instructor about your intent to drop. Alternatives such as an Incomplete grade may be possible in certain circumstances. 

• My instructor does not use their SJSU email, what should I do?

  • Students should email form to the instructor's SJSU email (security/privacy reasons). Then informed the instructor (to preferred email or in-person) that a petition was sent to the SJSU email. 

• For a course with multiple components (such as lecture, and lab), which instructor should sign the petition?

  • In courses with multiple instructors, the main instructor signs. For example, you are dropping CHEM 1A which has an instructor for the lecture, activity/seminar, and lab. The professor from the lecture would sign the form.

• Who is my College Associate Dean?

  • College of Business: Dr. Meg Virick (m.virick@sjsu.edu)

    College of Education: Dr. Marcos Pizarro (marcos.pizarro@sjsu.edu)

    College of Engineering: Dr. Nicole Okamoto (nicole.okamoto@sjsu.edu)

    College of Health and Human Sciences: Dr. Matthew Masucci (matthew.masucci@sjsu.edu)

    College of Humanities and the Arts: Dr. Roula Svorou (roula.svorou@sjsu.edu)

    College of Professional and Global Education: Dr. Namrata Shukla (namrata.shukla@sjsu.edu)

    College of Science: Dr. Shelley Cargill (shelley.cargill@sjsu.edu)

    College of Social Science: Dr. Anne Marie Todd (annemarie.todd@sjsu.edu)

    Undergraduate Advising and Success Center: Dr. Shonda Goward (shonda.goward@sjsu.edu) - Undeclared Students only.

    Undergraduate Education: Dr. Melinda Jackson (melinda.jackson@sjsu.edu) - Interdisciplinary Studies Students only.
     

• Do I have to keep attending the course after the late drop petition is submitted?  

  • Students are advised to continue attending the course and submitting assignments until a final decision on the petition is received.

• What are examples of acceptable documentation?

  • Examples of acceptable documentation include: death certificate/obituary in which family relationship is clear, birth certificate, divorce papers, insurance claim or police report, a notice of dismissal from employment or required change in work schedule, eviction notice, letter of support from advisor or instructor (on university email/letterhead).

    For medical reasons, the Healthcare Provider form [pdf] is preferred. 

    
    Examples of documentation not acceptable include: a statement from a family member/friend or your own statement with no other documents.

• How will a late course drop affect my financial aid for the semester?

  • For financial aid eligibility, undergraduate students must be enrolled in at least 12 units for “full-time enrollment,” 9-11 units for “three quarter-time enrollment” and 6-8 units for “half-time enrollment”. Dropping below these levels MAY impact your financial award, depending on the type of aid you receive. Students are advised to contact the Financial Aid Office with any questions about this PRIOR to dropping a course.

• I am requesting a retroactive course drop, but the professor is no longer part of SJSU, who should sign my petition?

  • In cases where the instructor is no longer affiliated with SJSU, the department chair would sign on behalf of the instructor.

• Can I cancel my request to drop?

  • Yes, students are able to cancel their request any time before it has been process (showing up on your MySJSU account as a "W"). 

    Students will need to email undergraduate-education@sjsu.edu the following information: Name use in petition, SJSU ID number, and state request to cancel drop/withdrawal petition. For late course drops, please include the course prefix and number.

• My petition was denied, can I appeal the decision?

  • Yes, students have 10 business days to appeal our final decision. Please work with an advisor or UE Office on appeal. 

Calendar

Visit the Registrar's site for more deadlines.

Summer 2022:

Fall 2022:

Winter 2023:

TBA <Oct 2022>

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