Leave of Absence
Any student in Yale College who is in academic good standing will normally receive permission, upon petition to the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing through the residential college dean, to take one or two terms of leave of absence, provided that the student departs in academic good standing at the end of a term and returns at the beginning of a term. (See "Requirements for Academic Good Standing" under the heading "Promotion and Good Standing" in this chapter.) In order that the University may make plans to maintain enrollment at the established level, students desiring leaves of absence are requested to make their intentions known to their residential college deans as soon as possible. Yale College assumes that students who take leaves of absence will inform their parents or guardians in good time that they intend to do so. Ordinarily, residential college deans do not notify parents or guardians that a student has taken a leave of absence, though they may do so if they believe that such notification is appropriate.
1. For a fall-term leave of absence, a student is requested to submit a petition by May 1. Since a student's plans often change during the summer, however, the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing will ordinarily grant a petition for a leave that is received on or before the tenth day of the term in the fall. See paragraph 3 below.
2. For a spring-term leave of absence, a student's petition must be received on or before the tenth day of the term in the spring. See paragraph 3 below.
3. Students considering a leave of absence should be aware that there is a substantial financial penalty for relinquishing on-campus housing after the relevant deadlines for relinquishing such housing. See "Rebates of Undergraduate Charges" under the heading "Financial Regulations" in the Yale College publication Undergraduate Regulations.
4. A student may cancel a leave of absence for either term as late as the first day of classes in the term for which the leave has been requested. However, the deadlines for payment of the term bill and the penalties for late payment apply in such cases. See "Payment of Bills" under the heading "Financial Regulations" in the Undergraduate Regulations.
5. A student is eligible for a total of two terms of leave of absence. These two terms need not be taken consecutively.
6. A student taking an accelerated degree by use of acceleration credits who has had two terms of leave of absence may receive a third term of leave if the third term of leave is needed to bring the student's pattern of attendance into conformity with the pattern of attendance stipulated for an accelerated degree. See "Acceleration Policies" in this chapter.
7. Permission to take a leave of absence normally includes the right to return, with prior notification to the residential college dean but without further application, at the beginning of the term specified in the student's petition to the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing. In the case, however, in which a student achieved eligibility for a leave of absence because of a postponement of a deadline for course work as a result of an identified medical problem, the Yale College Dean's Office may require medical clearance from the University Health Services before the student's return from the leave of absence.
8. Students taking leaves of absence who have received long-term loans will be sent information about their loan repayment obligations, which in most cases begin six months after the last day of formal enrollment at Yale. A student taking a leave of absence who is receiving financial aid through Yale must consult with a counselor in the Student Financial Services Center before leaving Yale; see "Rebates of Undergraduate Charges" under the heading "Financial Regulations" in the Undergraduate Regulations.
9. A student on a leave of absence is eligible to retain coverage by the Yale Health Plan during the time of the leave, but the student must take the initiative to apply for continued membership in the Yale Health Plan by completing an application form and paying the fee for membership. See "Leaves of Absence" under the heading "University Health Services" in the Undergraduate Regulations. Application forms and details about medical coverage while on leave of absence may be obtained from the Member Services Department of the Yale Health Plan, 17 Hillhouse Avenue, Yale University, P.O. Box 208237, New Haven, CT 06520-8237 (432-0246).
