Registration Policies

Students are responsible for registering on time and for the correct courses. You may not attend classes without being properly registered for them, you cannot receive credit for courses in which you are not registered, and students may not register or add individual courses retroactively.

How and when to register

There is a "scheduled early registration" period each semester during which current University of Iowa students register for the next semester's courses. Each student is assigned a registration time within this period and may not register before this time. Registration times are assigned on the basis of hours earned (and, when applicable, special circumstances).

Please note, you must declare at least one degree-granting major by the time you reach 60 overall earned hours to be eligible to register for the next session or semester.

The College urges all students to consult an academic advisor before they register or make changes to their registration.

Students who wish to drop a course should carefully note the drop deadlines since the College rigorously enforces these deadlines.

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Taking courses for credit or variable credit

Most courses offer the same number of credit hours to all students. However, some courses offer “variable” or “arranged” credit, allowing students to register for a range of credit hours. If you register for one of these courses and need to increase or decrease the number of hours, you may do so only during the period in which course adds and drops are allowed. To do this, complete the change of hours section on the add form, available from the MyUI log-in page.

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Auditing courses

CLAS students may choose to take courses without earning credit for them. This is called “auditing” and requires the approval of the course instructor and the appropriate academic advisor. Audited courses do not meet College requirements and carry no credit toward graduation, but students are still charged for auditing. Visit the Registrar's tuition tables for more information.

You may change your registration from “credit” to “audit” (or vice versa), but only during the period when adding courses is allowed. Changing to an audit may be possible for some courses in MyUI before a course begins. After a course begins, or if an hours change to audit (zero) is not possible in MyUI, then the change to audit can be processed using the email option from your uiowa.edu email address to registrar@uiowa.edu. Instructor and advisor permission are required to change to audit. You will still be assessed tuition for auditing a course. Please be sure you have discussed with the instructor what work you will be responsible for if you are approved for an audit. The request to change to audit must be completed by the "last day for undergraduates to add or change to P-N or audit status and late register" as listed on the Registrar’s Academic Calendar for semester-length courses, or the "last day to add without collegiate approval" listed on the Course Deadlines page for an individual course. No changes will be permitted after the add deadline for the course.

For information about the “grading” and notation of audited courses, see Audit Successful/Audit Unsuccessful (AUS/AUU).

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Registering for the Pass/Nonpass grading option (P/N)

Students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have the option of taking elective courses P/N (Pass/Nonpass) with the permission of the course instructor and/or the department offering the course. You may register for the P/N grading option beginning the first day of classes up to the "last day for undergraduates to add or change to P/N or audit status" as listed on the Registrar’s Academic Calendar for semester-length courses, or the "last day to add without collegiate approval" listed on the Course Deadlines page for an individual course.

To take a class P/N, first ask the course instructor if they allow P/N grading. Then, print a grading option form and have both your academic advisor and the course instructor sign it. Submit the completed form to the UI Service Center, 2700 UCC, registrar@uiowa.edu, by 4:30 pm on the published deadline. You may not change your P/N registration after the deadline.

P/N course policies:

  • You may request P/N grading only in courses you are using as electives, so:
  • You may not use the P/N grading option for any course in the department of your major unless the department approves it. In special circumstances, a department or program may authorize a P/N grading option for a student in a departmental course if it will not be applied toward the requirements for the major. Courses required for the major in cognate or related areas may be taken as P/N only if the department offering the major has approved the P/N status for the requirement in question.
  • Instructors and/or departments may deny students the option to register P/N for any course.
  • Hours of P/N coursework are not used in computing GPAs. Hours of coursework graded P count toward graduation, but hours of coursework graded N do not.
  • The College accepts a maximum of 15 s.h. of P credit from the University of Iowa toward the bachelor's degree, and a maximum of 30 s.h. of P and S grades from all sources (UI as well as transfer work) toward the bachelor's degree. P grades awarded in spring 2020 are excluded from these maximums.

Note: Special P/N course policies applied for the spring 2020 semester only that allowed students to choose the P/N grading option for any regularly graded course. A grade of P was assigned for a C- or higher, or a grade of N was assigned for a D+ or lower. Courses taken for P/N grades during the spring 2020 semester count towards curricular, major, minor, certificate, academic progress, general education, and graduation requirements.

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Registering for a Satisfactory/Fail (S/F) or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) course

Certain courses use the Satisfactory/Fail (S/F) or Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grading system. (To check, view a course’s detailed information on MyUI, and look for “Special Grading.”) All students registered for these courses receive a grade of S, F, or U. Special forms or permissions are not necessary to register for S/F or S/U courses.

S/F and S/U course policies:

  • Hours of S or U graded coursework are not used in computing grade point averages, but hours of F graded course work are used.
  • Hours of S graded coursework count as hours earned toward graduation, but hours of F or U graded coursework do not.
  • You may use S graded coursework to fulfill General Education CLAS Core Requirements and/or the requirements of your major, minor, or a certificate.
  • The College accepts a maximum of 15 s.h. of S credit from the University of Iowa toward the bachelor's degree, and a maximum of 30 s.h. of P and S grades from all sources (UI as well as transfer work) toward the bachelor's degree. P grades awarded in spring 2020 are excluded from these maximums.

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Cross-enrolling and taking Cross-referenced courses

Sometimes CLAS students take courses that belong to colleges other than CLAS, or they take “cross-referenced” courses (courses that are listed under more than one department). Because registration policies and other academic practices vary among the different colleges at the UI, students who cross-enroll or take cross-referenced courses need to be aware of which college—the one they are enrolled in, or the one that is listed as on MyUI as “Admin” of the course—governs that course’s policies and procedures.

  • In general, for issues that involve transactions between the professor and the student in the context of the student’s course participation (e.g., grading, academic misconduct, add/drop dates), the rules of the college offering the course will govern.
  • For issues that involve how a course applies (or doesn't apply) to a student’s academic standing and degree requirements (e.g., whether a course counts toward graduation, regression and duplication issues, second-grade-only options, probation and dismissal), the rules of the college in which the student is enrolled will govern.
  • Read the complete cross-enrollment policy

Note: Graduate students are governed by the policies of the Graduate College no matter what college offers the courses in which they are enrolled.

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Prerequisites

You may not enroll in a course unless you have satisfied its prerequisites as described on MyUI. Prerequisites generally specify a certain course or courses that you must complete before enrolling in the course with the prerequisites. At times, a prerequisite can also be satisfied with a certain placement test result, particularly for some math courses. Some prerequisite courses also have a minimum grade that must be met before the prerequisite is considered completed (such as a C or a B-). Be sure to read a course's MyUI information carefully to learn which prerequisites you must complete before you are allowed to enroll in the course. All departments are responsible for accurately describing their courses’ prerequisites on MyUI.

You will be stopped from enrolling in a course and will not be able to add it if you have not completed the prerequisites for that course. That is, your registration in the course will be automatically blocked if the registration system does not find the prerequisite course on your student record. Questions? See the Prerequisites Q & A page.

Many courses also have requirements that must be fulfilled. If you enroll in a course without having first completed its requirements, the department or instructor may administratively drop you from the course at the start of the semester (during the first eight calendar days of the fall or spring semester, the first two calendar days of the three-week summer session, or the first four days of the six- or eight-week summer session). You will not receive a “W” if you are dropped because of unsatisfied requirements.

Registration terms defined:

  1. Prerequisite - Indicates a UI course or placement test that you must have satisfactorily completed or received an appropriate score in before enrolling in the course. NOTE: Prerequisites are enforced at the time of registration for a course.
  1. Co-requisite - Indicates a UI course that you must have satisfactorily completed or be enrolled in at the same time as the listed course.
  1. Requirement - A mandatory criterion for enrollment in a course. For example, grade of C or higher in a beginning algebra course might be a requirement for a course. NOTE: Requirements are enforced at any time before the semester begins or the start of the semester.
  1. Recommendation - Knowledge, skills, and the completion of courses and other requirements that may assist in a course, but are not required, are recommendations. For example, a particular book in Shakespeare might be a recommended reading before enrolling in an English course.

For more information, please see the Prerequisites Q & A page.

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Adding courses

You may add courses after the semester has begun, but only until the deadline for adding courses. Please see the Registrar’s Academic Calendar for the final day for undergraduates to add courses each semester; this deadline is usually the first Monday of the second week of the semester. Summer and winter sessions have other deadlines.

If a course has not yet begun, you may simply add the course on MyUI.

For the first 5 days of classes for a fall or spring semester, students are able to add or change sections or semester hours for semester-length courses on MyUI.

To add a course after the 5th day of the semester, or to add on or after the start date for an off-cycle, summer, or winter session course, you must initiate the add request in MyUI, then obtain permission from the course instructor and your academic advisor to add the course in MyUI. After all required authorizations are received, you will have 24 hours to finalize the add in MyUI, see https://registrar.uiowa.edu/myui-course-add-tutorial.

For assistance with registration changes for your online courses (section number 0EX_), contact Distance and Online Education Registration at doe-reg@uiowa.edu, or 319-335-2852.

"Off-cycle" courses that start or end at times other than the beginning and end of the semester have add deadlines different from those of semester-long courses. Deadlines for individual courses, including off-cycle courses, may be found at the Registrar's Course Deadlines look-up.

Additional information on making registration changes may be found on the Registrar's website at https://registrar.uiowa.edu/changes-registration.

Adding courses after the deadline

CLAS Undergraduate Programs may grant permission to undergraduate students to add a course offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences after the deadline. Students may not register or add individual courses retroactively.

If you want to add a course offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (identified by Admin: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the MyUI course description) after the 10th day of the semester, or to add on or after the start date for an off-cycle, summer, or winter session course, you must initiate the add request in MyUI, then contact both your academic advisor and the course instructor/department to obtain permission to add the course in MyUI. Student-athletes also must obtain permission from Student-Athlete Academic Services. After you have obtained those authorizations, contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs, clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu, for collegiate authorization to add after the deadline. After all required authorizations are received, you will have 24 hours to finalize the add in MyUI, see https://registrar.uiowa.edu/myui-course-add-tutorial.

Note: These procedures apply only to undergraduate students who are taking courses offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. For students taking courses offered by other colleges, different rules may apply, and those students should consult the college in question. Whatever college administers the particular course is the college whose rules govern the procedures for dropping and adding after the published deadline. Read the complete cross-enrollment policy.

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Full-Time/Half-Time Student Status

Full-Time and Half-Time Student Status for undergraduates are defined as:

Full-Time and Half-Time Student Status for undergraduates
Percentage of Time Definition

Full-time student

12 s.h. per semester during the academic year;

12 s.h. during Summer Session.

Half-time student

6 s.h. per semester during the academic year;

6 s.h. during Summer Session.

For more information on Financial Aid enrollment rules, consult the Office of Student Financial Aid.

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Maximum course load

The recommended schedule for students who wish to complete a degree in eight semesters (four years) is 14 to 16 semester hours each semester. However, some students may want or need to take coursework in excess of the recommended hours.

Maximum course loads vary by session and are as follows:

Maximum course loads by semester

Semester

Credit Hours

Spring or Fall semester

The maximum permitted registration is 18 semester hours. Students wishing to register for more than 18 semester hours must have special permission. For guidelines, see Requesting Excess Hours below.

Summer session

12 semester hours

Winter session

3 semester hours

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Requesting Excess Hours

Students enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences who are in good academic standing may request permission from CLAS Undergraduate Programs to register for more hours than the maximum allowed. Permission to take excess hours is not guaranteed. Read the guidelines below carefully.

Spring semester 2024

Beginning Monday, November 6, 2023 (Early registration):

  • You may register for a maximum of 18 semester hours for the spring 2024 semester.
  • If you are a CLAS student who will become eligible to graduate in May 2024, or at the close of summer session 2024, by adding additional hours to the spring 2024 semester (only), you may email clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu from your UI email account to request to exceed the 18 semester hour maximum. In the email, include your University ID number or Hawk ID, number of hours you are requesting, and the course(s) you wish to add. 
  • Please note, if you are not graduating in spring or summer 2024, you must wait until fall grades post in MyUI to request excess hours.

After fall semester grades post in MyUI:

  • You may register for a maximum of 18 semester hours for the spring 2024 semester.
  • Beginning Wednesday, December 27, 2023, if you are a CLAS student, you may email clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu from your UI email account to request to exceed the 18 semester hour maximum. In the email, include your University ID number or Hawk ID, number of hours you are requesting, and the course(s) you wish to add. 
  • Beginning Tuesday, January 23, 2024, if you want to register for more than 18 semester hours, you must demonstrate that you have permission to add the course from both the course instructor and your academic advisor in order for your excess hours request to be considered.

Summer session 2024

  • The maximum registration for summer session (any combined 4-week, 6-week, 8-week, 12-week enrollment) is 12 semester hours.
  • During or after early registration (March 4-8, 2024), if you are a CLAS student, you may contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs (clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu or 319-335-2633) to discuss how to petition to exceed 12 semester hours of enrollment; however, permission for excess hours is granted only in extraordinary circumstances.

Fall semester 2024

Beginning Monday, April 8, 2024 (Early registration):

  • You may register for a maximum of 18 semester hours for the fall 2024 semester.
  • If you are a CLAS student who will become eligible to graduate in December 2024 by adding additional hours, you may email clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu to request to exceed the 18 semester hour maximum. In the email, include your University ID number or Hawk ID, number of hours you are requesting, and the course(s) you wish to add.
  • Please note, if you are not graduating in fall 2024, you must wait until spring grades post in MyUI to request excess hours.

After spring semester grades post in MyUI:

  • You may register for a maximum of 18 semester hours for the fall 2024 semester.
  • Beginning Monday, May 20, 2024, if you are a CLAS student, you may email clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu from your UI email account to request to exceed the 18 semester hour maximum. In the email, include your University ID number or Hawk ID, number of hours you are requesting, and the course(s) you wish to add.
  • Beginning Tuesday, September 3, 2024, if you want to register for more than 18 semester hours, you must demonstrate that you have permission to add the course from both the course instructor and your academic advisor in order for your excess hours request to be considered.

Winter session 2024

  • The maximum winter session registration is 3 semester hours.
  • This 3 semester hour maximum applies to all students.

Criteria for granting excess hours

Professional staff in CLAS Undergraduate Programs may approve excess semester hours based on the following UI and total cumulative grade point average guidelines; however, approval for excess hours is not guaranteed.

Permission for 19 hours (fall or spring) requires:

  • 2.0 minimum GPA (academic good standing)
  • Evidence of previous substantial (15+ graded hours) and successful semesters

Permission for 20 hours (fall or spring) requires:

  • 2.5 minimum GPA
  • Evidence of previous substantial (15+ graded hours) and successful semesters

Permission for 21 hours (fall or spring) requires:

  • 3.0 minimum GPA
  • Evidence of previous substantial (15+ graded hours) and successful semesters

Students may petition for permission to take 22 semester hours or more but such permission is granted rarely and only in very special circumstances.

Students held for ESL course work will not be given permission for excess hours until the ESL courses have been completed successfully.

Students on academic probation will not be given permission for excess hours.

Permission for excess hours is a privilege. If you perform poorly or drop any of your courses, then permission for excess hours may not be granted in a future semester.

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Dropping courses

Please note that different deadlines exist for students wishing to drop individual courses or withdraw from an entire semester. Visit the Registrar's Course Deadlines calendar for the exact dates of these deadlines each semester.

For the first 5 days of classes of a fall or spring semester, students (except student athletes and international students) will be able to drop semester-length courses in MyUI. However, students will not be able to drop their only (last) course in MyUI, as that is a Withdrawal of Registration.

To drop a course after the 5th day of the semester, or to drop on or after the start date for an off-cycle, summer, or winter session course, the student must initiate the drop on the Courses/Registration page in MyUI for the current semester or session. Then, the student is responsible for contacting their academic advisor to obtain authorization to drop the course. The academic advisor will not be notified automatically of the drop request. Authorization also may be required from International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) for international students, and Student-Athlete Academic Services for student athletes. Instructor permission is not required to drop courses offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The student must initiate the drop on MyUI and obtain all authorizations by 4:30 pm on the course deadline date. After the required authorizations have been obtained, the student must log in to MyUI to complete the drop process by 11:59 pm on the deadline to drop the course. The course is dropped only when the student receives the message that the course was "Successfully dropped". Additional information may be found at https://registrar.uiowa.edu/changes-registration-myui.

Alternatively, a student may print a paper Change of Registration Form, have it signed by their academic advisor, then bring the signed form to the UI Service Center, 2700 UCC, by 4:30 pm on the deadline to drop the course. Paper forms should be used only for situations in which adding and dropping must be completed simultaneously.

Students who fail to attend a class are NOT, in most cases, dropped from the course automatically. All students wishing to drop a course must obtain the necessary authorizations as described above. Only under special conditions may an instructor drop a student from a course.

Instructor's option to drop for nonattendance. In rare cases, the instructor may drop any student who has not attended the class during the first eight calendar days of the fall or spring semester (or during the first two calendar days of the winter session, or during the first four days of the four-week, six-week, eight-week, or twelve week summer sessions)—unless the student has offered acceptable reasons for beginning the course late. Students dropped for nonattendance do not receive a “W." The UI Service Center notifies each student dropped from a course, along with the student's advisor. Students should not assume that they have been dropped automatically from a course because they have not attended it.

Dropping an “off-cycle” course

Off-cycle courses, courses that start or end at times other than the beginning and end of the semester, have drop deadlines different from those of semester-length courses. Deadlines for individual courses, including off-cycle courses, may be found at the Registrar's Course Deadlines look-up, listed as, "Last day to drop without collegiate approval, undergraduate."

The student must initiate the drop on MyUI and obtain all authorizations by 4:30 pm on the course deadline date. After the required authorizations have been obtained, the student must log in to MyUI to complete the drop process by 11:59 pm on the deadline to drop the course. The course is dropped only when the student receives the message that the course was "Successfully dropped".

Collegiate authorization from the College offering the course will be required to drop off-cycle courses after the stated course deadline. Undergraduate students should contact clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu for collegiate authorization to drop off-cycle courses offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Dropping a course without a “W”

You may drop courses after the semester has begun; the first drop deadline generally occurs by the first Monday of the second week of classes for semester-length courses. This deadline is labeled as “Last day for undergraduates to add courses or drop courses without a W”, or "Last day to drop without a 'W'". Courses dropped by this deadline will not be visible on your transcript.

Dropping a course with a “W”

The second deadline to drop a course, listed as “Last day to drop without collegiate approval, undergraduate”, or "Last day for undergraduates to drop individual semester-length courses" is usually on the Monday after the twelfth week of the semester for semester-length courses. Courses dropped during this period remain on your transcript with a mark of W, indicating that you have dropped the course, see Mark of “W". This is the final drop deadline.

Requesting to drop a course after the deadline

For a CLAS course, you should contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs, 319-335-2633, clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu, to discuss your request. Approval to drop CLAS courses after the final drop deadline (listed as the “last day to drop without collegiate approval, undergraduate” or "last day for undergraduates to drop individual semester-length courses") may be granted only with documentation of extenuating circumstances (such as a serious illness or a crisis beyond the student's control).

If you want to drop a CLAS course after the published deadline:

  • If you would like to discuss your circumstances, please contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs at 319-335-2633 or schedule an appointment online (choose “College Office” then “College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) to meet with an academic staff member.
  • Complete and submit the Request for Late Drop of Individual CLAS Course(s) online form
  • Attach any appropriate supporting documentation to the online form, or send to CLAS Undergraduate Programs, 120 Schaeffer Hall, by email (clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu) or fax (319-335-3192). If you were seen at Student Health or University Counseling Service (UCS) please contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs for assistance in obtaining documentation from those offices. 
  • Check your UI email account for a response and take any actions as required.

Note: This information applies only to undergraduate students who are taking courses offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. For students taking courses offered by other colleges, different rules may apply, and those students should consult the college in question. Whatever college provides the administrative home for the particular course is the college whose rules govern the procedures for dropping and adding after the published deadline, but before the end of the semester or session. After a semester or session has concluded, the drop becomes "retroactive" and may be authorized only by the student's college of enrollment for that semester or session. Read the complete cross-enrollment policy.

If you have any questions please call 319-335-2633 or email clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu.

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Withdrawal of entire registration

You may withdraw your entire course registration after the semester or session has begun until withdrawal deadline, listed as the “Last day for undergraduates to withdraw entire registration without collegiate approval.” Please see the Registrar’s Academic Calendar for the withdrawal deadline date for the current session.

Before the withdrawal deadline, if you have decided to withdraw from all your courses, you should contact your academic advisor for assistance with the withdrawal process. If you are unable to meet with your academic advisor, contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs, 319-335-2633, clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu, for assistance. International students, however, must contact International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS), 1111 UCC. Students on academic probation are encouraged to discuss their decision to withdraw their registration with an academic staff member in CLAS Undergraduate Programs.

You may initiate a withdrawal from all courses in the current session on MyUI, see Withdrawal Information on the Registrar's website for more information. However, you will need to complete an online withdrawal survey, obtain authorization from one or more campus offices, then finalize the request in MyUI for the withdrawal to be completed.

After you have finalized the withdrawal, your transcript will show that you have withdrawn from an entire semester or session, and will reflect no courses, credits, or grades. Instead, it will indicate that you withdrew and the date withdrawn (for example: Withdrew April 17, 2023).

A withdrawal in the current semester or session does not impact future enrollments. Those registrations will remain as is unless you make changes. If you are registered for a future semester or session and do not plan to attend, please drop all courses for that semester or session in MyUI.

Note: After a withdrawal is finalized, the decision is irreversible. After your withdrawal is completed, you will not be allowed to register again for that semester or session. For example, you may not re-enroll in courses in which you were previously enrolled, nor have your registration restored, nor enroll in new courses for the withdrawn semester or session.

After the withdrawal deadline, if you are a student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), you should contact an academic staff member in CLAS Undergraduate Programs, 319-335-2633, clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu, to discuss your circumstances and how to request collegiate permission for a late withdrawal during the semester or session, or a retroactive withdrawal after the semester or session has concluded.

Requesting a late withdrawal or a retroactive withdrawal

If you want to request a late withdrawal from the current semester or session, or retroactive withdrawal from a previous semester or session, please contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs for information, 319-335-2633 or clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu. Approval to withdraw after the deadline may be granted in the event of extenuating circumstances (such as a serious illness or a crisis beyond the student's control) and only with appropriate documentation indicating the nature of these circumstances.

Federal immigration regulations do not permit retroactive record adjustments (drops or withdrawal) for a student holding an F-1 or J-1 visa after a semester or session has concluded. 

The procedures below apply only to undergraduate students enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences during the semester in question. For students enrolled in one of the University of Iowa’s other colleges, different rules may apply, and those students should consult their College of enrollment for that semester or session.

Note: After a withdrawal is finalized, the decision is irreversible. After your withdrawal is completed, you will not be allowed to register again for that semester or session. For example, you may not re-enroll in courses in which you were previously enrolled, nor have your registration restored, nor enroll in new courses for the withdrawn semester or session.

Note: After a student has graduated and the degree is noted on their official transcript, their academic record prior to graduation is frozen and no changes are permitted, including but not limited to retroactive record adjustments (adds, drops or withdrawals), use of second-grade-only options, or waiving Ws.

If you are a current or former CLAS student and want withdraw from an entire semester or session after the published deadline:

  • If you would like to discuss your circumstances, please contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs at 319-335-2633 or schedule an appointment online (choose “College Office” then “College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) to meet with an academic staff member.
  • Complete and submit the Request for Late/Retroactive Withdrawal of Entire Registration online form
  • Attach any appropriate supporting documentation to the online form, or send to CLAS Undergraduate Programs, 120 Schaeffer Hall, by email (clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu) or fax (319-335-3192). If you were seen at Student Health or University Counseling Service (UCS) please contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs for assistance in obtaining documentation from those offices. 
  • Check your UI email account for a response and take any actions as required.
  • If you no longer have a UI email account, and/or you are not able to login to the online form using your Hawk ID and password, please contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs for assistance, or you may follow the instructions below to make your request.

Petitions will not be accepted unless they are completed by the student. Third parties—including parents—cannot petition on behalf of the student.

STUDENT LETTER 

  1. The student must send an email to the Academic Reviewers, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with their request. The email must be sent to clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu from the student’s UI email account (only).

Be sure to include: 

  • Full name 
  • University of Iowa ID number 
  • Mailing address 
  • University of Iowa (only) email address 
  • Date 
  1.  The very first sentence of the letter:  “I am requesting a withdrawal from [insert semester(s) and year(s)].” 
  2. Next: describe concisely the circumstances for the request. 

  3. Next: indicate what, if any, supporting documentation the Reviewers can expect to receive.

Please note, if you do not have a UI email account, contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs (319-335-2633 or clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu) for assistance.

 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION 

  1. The student is responsible for requesting any supporting documentation. 

  2. The person providing the documentation should send it directly to the Academic Reviewers, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, by email to clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu or fax to 319-335-3192. Please note, If documentation is sent by the student, our office may contact the originator for verification.

Note: If you were seen at Student Health or University Counseling Service, please contact CLAS Undergraduate Programs (319-335-2633 or clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu) for assistance in obtaining documentation from those offices.

Examples of supporting documentation:

  • A letter (not a medical record or clinical notes) from a private health care provider
  • Student Health (please contact clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu for assistance in obtaining documentation)
  • University Counseling Service (please contact clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu for assistance in obtaining documentation)
  • A copy of a funeral program or obituary notice
  • Legal documentation (such as court documents, divorce decree, or letter from a lawyer)
  • None

Please note, the following items are NOT appropriate supporting documentation and should not be submitted:

  • A medical record or clinical notes
  • A copy or photograph of a prescription or medication container
  • A photograph of a medical procedure, body part, or deceased person
  • A billing statement
  • A letter from a parent or other family member

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences requests this information for the purpose of documenting requests for exceptions to collegiate rules. No persons outside the university are provided this information without your permission, except for items of directory information such as name and local address. All requested information is required. If you fail to provide the required information, the College will not be able to act on your request.

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