Procedure

1. Student Request for Withdrawal
A student wishing to withdraw from the College should submit a signed request to the Office of Registration and Records. If the student requests withdrawal within the first 6 months of enrollment and before the initial evaluation has begun, a refund of two-thirds of the enrollment fee will be automatically forwarded. If the initial evaluation has been completed, no refund will be given. For graduate programs, the tuition refund policy will be applied. There is no refund of the application fee.

2. Withdrawal for Failure to Pay Fees
A student may be withdrawn from the College for failure to pay fees. The designation WA is used. Undergraduate and graduate students have 3 months from the withdrawal date to reactivate their student status and retain their academic policy date. Students who have been withdrawn for longer than 3 months and wish to continue in their programs will be required to reenroll and to meet the degree requirements in effect at the time of reenrollment.

A student may appeal in writing to the ombudsperson for approval to pay fees after the due date in order to avoid an administrative withdrawal. Such an appeal should include the reasons for late payment and the student's plan to make progress toward the degree.

3. Emergency Mandatory Withdrawal
If, in the opinion of a staff member of Excelsior College, a student exhibits behavior that creates or presents unreasonable risk to the physical or mental health of the student himself/herself or others, the dean of the academic program may recommend to the provost and chief academic officer an emergency mandatory withdrawal from the College.

An emergency mandatory withdrawal will be ordered if it would be in the best interest of the student, other students, staff, or others directly affected by the student's behavior. Such an emergency mandatory withdrawal will be temporary, until such time as the incident that precipitated the leave can be fully investigated.

After such an investigation, the student will either be reinstated or permanently dismissed, following the process outlined in the Student Rights and Responsibilities policy.

During the leave, all services to the student will cease and the student may not withdraw from the College. If, following the investigation, the student is reinstated, a period of time equal to the duration of the leave will be credited to the student as it applies to any Excelsior College fees that are assessed on an annual or other periodic basis. If the leave was imposed during the course of an examination the student was unable to complete, the fee for the examination will be forfeited. If the student is dismissed, all fees paid prior to the commencement of the leave will be forfeited. If the leave was imposed while the student was taking an Excelsior College course, the outcome of the investigation will determine if the course tuition will be forfeited, and any other issues related to course completion.

Examination and course takers not enrolled in Excelsior College who display behavior as defined above during an examination or course will not be permitted to take another course or examination until the incident has been investigated and resolved.

4. Academic Dismissal
Students will be academically dismissed from the College for failure to make satisfactory academic progress by the end of their probationary period (see the Undergraduate Students and Certificates, and Graduate Programs and Certificates sections of the Academic Probation policy page).

If the student is academically dismissed, the student's academic file will be annotated to reflect this action and the file will be flagged to block future enrollment, except through appeal.

All advising and evaluation services previously available to the student will be terminated.

5. Administrative Dismissal (Violation of Academic Honesty or Violation of Standards of Student Rights and Responsibilities)
The College reserves the right to administratively dismiss students for violations of Academic Honesty or Student Rights and Responsibilities policies.

If the student is administratively dismissed, the student's academic file will be annotated to reflect this action and the file will be flagged to block future enrollment, except through appeal.

All advising and evaluation services previously available to the student will be terminated. The SIS designation WD is used for administrative dismissal.

6. Appealing Dismissal Decisions
Normally, a student who has been dismissed from the College may appeal for reinstatement no earlier than 2 years from the date of separation from the College. However, a student in the nursing program who is academically dismissed from the College due to excessive failures on a performance examination, required nursing theory examination, or failure to complete degree requirements within the specified time limit (see Time Limit on Enrollment in the School of Nursing catalog) cannot apply for readmission to the School of Nursing any earlier than 5 years from the date of dismissal. The student may apply to any other school within the College no earlier than 2 years from the date of separation from the College.

The appeal must be in writing, present a rationale for reconsideration, and shall be addressed to the provost and chief academic officer. The Student Appeals Committee will review the appeal within 30 days of its receipt and notify the student of its decision in writing.

If an appeal for reinstatement is granted, the student will be reinstated to Excelsior College under the degree requirements in effect at the time of readmission.