Table of Contents | Index | Internal Audit Web

The purpose of this Academic Operating Policy and Procedure (AOP) is to define the policy for allowing students to withdraw from Mississippi State University.

This AOP will be reviewed every five years or whenever circumstances require an earlier review by the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs (APAA) with recommendations for revision presented to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Any student leaving the University prior to the end of the period of enrollment, except for temporary absences, should initiate withdrawal procedures at his/her Academic Dean’s office. By completing this procedure, the student may prevent future difficulties in obtaining transcripts or in re-entering the University, and will avoid having F’s automatically recorded for all courses taken during the semester.

A student who withdraws after the 10th day of classes will receive grades of W for each course scheduled. No withdrawals will be allowed during the last two weeks before the beginning of final examinations for the fall and spring semesters, and during the last week prior to the beginning of examinations for each five-week/ten-week summer term.

The withdrawal of any student shall not be effective on a date prior to the last day of class attendance.

In highly unusual circumstances resulting from extreme hardship, a student may petition to withdraw retroactively from a semester within one calendar year. The request for withdrawal will be considered only when accompanied by appropriate documentation of the situation (e.g. medical emergency or administrative error) which was related to the student’s recorded academic performance for the semester in question. Such requests must be approved by the student’s advisor, department head, dean, and the Provost. For cases other than administrative error in which final grades were recorded, the student’s instructors should be consulted before a final decision is rendered and should be notified after the decision is made. In no case will more than one semester’s work be retroactively withdrawn during a student’s matriculation at Mississippi State University.

For information about this policy, contact the responsible/reviewing department hyperlinked above.