Withdraw or Cancel Enrollment for a Term

If you are attending UW–Madison with student loans, grants, scholarships, or other tuition support, please contact the Office of Student Financial Aid  to learn what changes your withdrawal will make to your aid. Start with their “Leaving UW” information.

If you have Wisconsin or Federal G.I. Bill tuition benefits, please contact University Veteran Services. If you are being called to active duty, contact Veteran Services for help and talk with your advisor. UW–Madison has a special policy for enrolled students called to active U.S. military service.

Contact International Student Services to understand how changing your enrollment affects your visa conditions. ISS permission is required before you can withdraw.

Contact your academic and career advisor within Athletics before initiating a withdrawal.

1. You submit a withdrawal request via Student Center in MyUW. You will receive an automated email confirming that your withdrawal has been submitted and is pending approval.
2. Your withdrawal request is routed electronically to your Academic Dean’s Office for review.
   • If your request is denied by your Academic Dean’s Office, you will receive an automated email notifying you it has been denied. You will be encouraged to contact your Academic Dean’s Office for more information.
   • If your request is approved by your Academic Dean’s Office, the withdrawal request will be routed electronically to the Office of the Registrar for processing.
   • If you are an international student on a J-1 or F-1 visa, the withdrawal request will first be electronically routed to International Student Services for review before being routed to the Office of the Registrar.
     You should meet with ISS before submitting a withdrawal request to understand the effect on your F-1/J-1 student visa status and stay in the U.S.
   • If you are a student-athlete, the withdrawal request will first be routed electronically to the Athletics department for review before being routed to the Office of the Registrar.
     You should meet with your athletic advisor before submitting a withdrawal request to understand the effect on your status as a student-athlete.
3. Once your withdrawal request is processed by the Office of the Registrar, you will receive an email confirming the process is complete.

Note: There is a deadline late in each term, after which you cannot initiate a withdrawal on your own in Student Center. If you wish to withdraw after the deadline has passed, such requests need to be made directly to your academic dean.

For contact information, see the academic dean permissions table.

You will receive a confirmation email from the Office of the Registrar, after your academic dean and any other necessary offices (ISS and/or Athletics) have approved the withdrawal.

The day that you submit your online withdrawal request, unless otherwise determined by your academic dean’s office, will be considered your official withdrawal date.

Your advisor or your academic dean might ask to meet with you to discuss your withdrawal and help you make a plan for returning, before their final approval is given. Your official withdrawal date will still be the date you submit your request, even if it is not reviewed and processed by the Dean’s office until a later date.

That official date is used to determine how your courses should be recorded on your transcript, and whether you are eligible for an adjustment (refund) on your tuition for that term. Refer to our Dates & Deadlines page for a list of important deadlines.

The university uses the term “drop” to indicate dropping a single course and the term “withdrawal” to indicate dropping all courses during a given term.

Note: You can drop all of your courses prior to the start of a term without going through the withdrawal process. This is considered canceling your enrollment.

Canceling your enrollment means that you are dropping all of your classes before the first day of the classes’ sessions. If you cancel your enrollment by that deadline, your UW–Madison transcript will not show any record for that session.

If the session(s) for your enrolled course(s) has begun, and you no longer want to attend UW–Madison for that term, then you will formally withdraw from the university.

• Visit our Dates & Deadlines page. For refund dates, check the relevant session.
• In Course Search & Enroll, follow these steps to check dates and deadlines.
• You will also be prompted to review the tuition adjustment schedule during the withdrawal request steps.

No. You should drop all enrolled courses (also known as canceling your enrollment) using Course Search & Enroll.

If you are an international student on a J-1 or F-1 visa, you should meet with ISS before cancelling your enrollment to understand the effect on your F-1/J-1 student visa status and stay in the U.S.

If you have completed one or more modular courses, you cannot withdraw from the term but may drop your remaining courses if it is prior to the drop deadline. The completed course(s) will remain on your transcript.

If it is past the drop deadline, consult your academic dean’s office.

This helps the university understand why students are withdrawing. It also provides the academic dean reviewing your request some background about your decision.

Contact your academic dean’s office as soon as possible.

It depends on the date you withdraw. The Office of the Registrar will process your withdrawal according to the official date you submit the withdrawal request in MyUW Student Center. If you withdraw during the refund period, your fees will be reduced and if applicable, a refund will be issued to you.

The Regular (15-week) session has a 100% and a 50% adjustment deadline. Other sessions may have a 100%, a 50%, and a 25% adjustment deadline, or some combination, or none at all, depending on how many weeks long the sessions is (and other factors). View the refund schedule and other session dates.

You will also be prompted to review the tuition adjustment schedule during the withdrawal request steps.

If you have any questions regarding the assessment of fees, please contact the Bursar’s Office at tuition_assessment@bussvc.wisc.edu

• Contact your academic dean’s office.
• If you’re an F-1 or J-1 student visa holder, contact International Student Services.

• Up to a certain day each session, you can withdraw and have no record of enrolled classes for that term on your transcript.
• If you withdraw after the first deadline, your transcript will show that you withdrew and any courses that you were still enrolled in will show as dropped (“DR”). No other letter grades will show for those classes.
• If you stop attending classes or do not take final exams, and have not withdrawn from the university, you may have grades of F recorded. Your enrolled classes and grades for that term will remain on your transcript.

In this example of how a withdrawal appears on a student’s transcript, the student dropped a course on 01/30/2019 and then on 03/27/2019 withdrew completely, at which point the final course was dropped via the withdrawal process.

No, your courses this term will not count toward your total degree credits.

When you withdraw, none of your in-progress classes or credits will count toward your degree. When you return to classes, you may be eligible to retake those courses.

Please check with your advisor before you begin your withdrawal to review your academic plan and look ahead to future terms.

• For Fall/Spring Terms: It will depend on when you withdraw. If you withdraw after the 60% point in the term then no federal refund calculation is required and you are entitled to all the funds disbursed to you.
  
  If you withdraw any time before the 60% point in the term you may be required to repay portions of the financial aid you received.
  
  Any tuition refund will also be applied to repaying aid in order: federal, state and institutional.
  
  Worksheets used to calculate the amount of federal funds to be returned are available upon request.
• For Summer Term: It will depend on when you withdraw. If you withdraw after the 60% point of the total days for which you were enrolled for the Summer term then no federal refund calculation is required and you are entitled to all the funds disbursed to you.
  
  If you withdraw any time before completing 60% of your enrollment for your combined summer sessions you may be required to repay portions of the financial aid you received.
  
  Any tuition refund will also be applied to repaying aid in order: federal, state and institutional.
  
  Worksheets used to calculate the amount of federal funds to be returned are available upon request.

There is no one standard answer; it is up to the individuals and organizations providing the scholarship. You should contact the scholarship provider to ask what the policy is on your specific scholarship. Some scholarships are renewable and withdrawing could affect your future eligibility for that scholarship.

Yes, with a couple of provisions: that you fulfilled any requirement to repay federal funds from the term you withdrew from and are not jeopardized by failing to make financial aid satisfactory academic progress, i.e. a 67% completion rate of all credits attempted, as a cumulative. Refer to the Office of Student Financial Aid’s website for more information about financial aid eligibility.

Repayment includes paying the school for funds they returned to the Title IV programs on your behalf and the lack of a hold on your enrollment for a past due balance.

• For Fall/Spring Terms: In most cases yes, but it depends on the date that you withdraw. If you withdraw in the middle of a term, you will lose your tuition remission if the duration of your appointment is not sufficient to meet the 33% for 4.5 months appointment requirement.
  
  Read the tuition remission policy for more information.
• For Summer Term: If you had tuition remission in the Spring term, you will automatically have it for the Summer term, even if you choose to withdraw from the Summer term. However, if Summer is your first term with an assistantship or fellowship, you will lose tuition remission for the Summer if you withdraw.

Yes, health insurance will be affected according to the withdrawal date.

Contact the Office of Human Resources for full information about premiums and coverage.

Once you withdraw, you cannot continue to hold a student hourly job. Please be sure to tell your supervisor of your intent to withdraw.

You cannot continue to live in University Housing if you are not currently enrolled. You must notify University Housing at assignme@housing.wisc.edu or (608) 262-2522 when you submit a withdrawal request to begin the contract cancellation process. You must move out of their residence hall within 24 hours of withdrawal from the university.

You may consult the Campus Area Housing office with concerns regarding private leases.

No, you will be considered a continuing student even after you withdraw and will automatically be eligible to enroll for the following term.

If you withdraw from the fall term, you will be eligible to enroll for spring courses. If you withdraw from the spring term, you will be eligible to enroll for summer and fall courses. An enrollment appointment time will be assigned for you automatically, and displayed in MyUW and Course Search & Enroll.

If you are an international student on a J-1 or F-1 visa, you must contact ISS before your intended return to receive a new valid DS-2019 or I-20.

• Undergraduate Students: You will need to apply for reentry to be eligible to enroll in a future term.
• Graduate Students: You must complete a new online application for admission.
• Law School: contact the school.
• School of Medicine and Public Health: Contact the school.
• School of Pharmacy: Contact the school.
• School of Veterinary Medicine: Contact the school.
• Adult Career and Special Students: Contact the Division of Continuing Studies.

No, your withdrawal only affects your classes for one term. For example, if you withdraw from the fall term in November after you already enrolled in some spring classes, you are still considered enrolled in those spring courses and you are eligible to return to class in January.

If you do not intend to maintain your enrollment in a future term, you must drop any enrolled classes for that term. For example, if you withdraw in November and do not plan to attend UW–Madison in the spring either, then you must drop those spring term classes (in addition to completing your withdrawal for the fall term). If you drop the spring classes before the start of the spring term, you will be canceling your enrollment.

No. University Veteran Services will automatically request an enrollment appointment for the semester you indicated unless you tell them otherwise.

If your return plan changes, please email UVS at veterans@wisc.edu

Yes, withdrawing during the fall or spring semester will impact your F-1 or J-1 student visa status. You cannot legally remain in the U.S. on your F-1 or J-1 student visa if you are not enrolled full-time or have an approved ISS Reduced Course Load (RCL). Consult ISS before you withdraw.

Summer Term Withdrawal: Your status will be impacted if this is your first or last term at UW–Madison; please consult with International Student Services (ISS) before you withdraw.
If you are a continuing student who was enrolled for the previous spring term and will enroll for the upcoming fall term, summer enrollment is not required by your student visa; continuing students may withdraw for the summer term without consulting ISS.

No, you cannot continue to live in University Housing if you are not currently enrolled. You must notify University Housing at assignme@housing.wisc.edu or (608) 262-2522 when you submit a withdrawal request to begin the contract cancellation process. You must move out of their residence hall within 24 hours of withdrawal from the university.

Review the SHIP withdrawal and refund policies located in the appropriate SHIP plan document for you below:

• Domestic Student SHIP Plan Document
• International Student SHIP Plan Document

Contact the SHIP office directly with any specific questions not answered clearly in the plan document.

Yes, your NetID will always be valid and you will have access to Student Center after you are no longer enrolled.

If you have G.I. Bill benefits, contact University Veteran Services. If you are being called to active duty, contact UVS for help and talk with your advisor. UW–Madison has a special policy for enrolled students called to active U.S. military service.

Note: If you are returning after a period of active duty, you aren’t required to complete a reentry application.

Once your withdrawal is approved, your membership and eligibility for all Recreation & Wellbeing facilities on campus will be canceled overnight. Refer to RecWell’s website for information about membership for non-students.