Students needing to spend time away from Goucher College or pursue other educational goals may request a leave of absence as follows:

• Students may request a leave of absence for a semester until the end of the add/drop period.
• Students should obtain the leave-of-absence form from Goucher's website.
• Students who are seeking a leave of absence should work with the Office of Retention and Student Success to review the leave of absence procedure and coordinate their leave.
• Students taking a leave of absence for medical reasons are required to complete the return process outlined in the Medical/Compassionate Withdrawal Policy (PDF)
• Students taking a leave of absence who intend to take courses while away from Goucher should submit a completed transfer course approval form (PDF) along with course descriptions to the Office of the Registrar. This will ensure the courses taken are transferable to Goucher. Students are notified of the decision prior to registering for the course if they submit the transfer course approval in time.
• Ordinarily, 12 of a student’s last 24 credit hours are required to be taken at Goucher. The student must petition to the associate provost for the undergraduate program for permission to go over this limit.

NOTE: Students receiving Title IV financial aid who take a leave of absence are treated as having withdrawn from the college for financial aid purposes. This means that the six-month grace period for Federal Direct Loans begins the day after the last date of academic activity at the college. If the student resumes enrollment at least half-time within that grace period, s/he will return to in-school status and will be eligible for the full six-month grace period when s/he leaves school or drops below half-time enrollment again. The repayment period for Federal Direct Loans begins on the day after the grace period ends.