Medical and compassionate withdrawals

Steps for submitting a medical/compassionate withdrawal

• Determine if your request is medical or compassionate in nature.
  • Medical: When extraordinary circumstances, such as a serious illness or injury, prevents the student from continuing classes. This covers both physical health and mental health difficulties.
  • Compassionate: When extraordinary personal reasons, not related to the student's personal physical or mental health (for example, care of a seriously ill family member or a death in the student's immediate family), prevent the student from continuing in classes.
• Meet with your academic advisor to explore the withdrawal options.
• Work with faculty for alternative class arrangements or incomplete grades.
• If you receive financial aid, consult with a student financial assistance counselor to determine financial obligation.
• If you receive VA Benefits, consult with Pat Tillman Veteran Center to discuss any potential impact on your benefits.
• If you are an international student with an F1/J1 visa, consult with the international students and scholars center to discuss immigration consequences that may result from your withdrawal from ASU.
• Review guidelines of requirements for submission section below.
• Submit the medical/compassionate withdrawal form through the web form located at the bottom of this page.

Requirements of submission

To request a medical/compassionate withdrawal, students must:

• Complete the online request for medical/compassionate withdrawal form.
  • If you are requesting withdrawals for multiple semesters, you will need to submit one form for each semester.

• Gather supporting documentation for the medical/compassionate withdrawal situation to the request form.
  • All applications for withdrawal require thorough and credible documentation; however, applications for less than a complete withdrawal must be especially well documented to justify the selective nature of the partial withdrawal request.
  • The withdrawal designee may seek additional information from you or from those providing the documentation. Verification of authenticity of documentation is standard practice. All supporting documentation should be detailed and relevant to the situation.
  • For medical withdrawals a letter from your healthcare provider is necessary. Letters need to be on the healthcare provider’s letterhead stationery. Healthcare provider documentation should include:
    • The date of onset of illness.
    • The dates you were under professional care.
    • The general nature of your medical condition and why/how it prevented you from completing your course work/attending class.
    • The date of your anticipated return to school.
    • The last date you were able to attend class.
  • For compassionate withdrawals the appropriate documentation will be specific to your situation. The documentation should corroborate your request by either strengthening the request or providing a timeline for the event(s). For example:
    • If your request involves the death of a family member, attach a copy of the death certificate, airline itinerary and receipt/ticket, or funeral program.
    • If your request is a result of a change in employment, provide documentation highlighting the changes.
    • If your request concerns another’s illness or hospitalization, the supporting documentation must be obtained from their medical professional.
    • If your request concerns legal issues, police reports or other legal documents explaining the circumstances you are dealing with will be required.

Make a medical/compassionate withdrawal submission

Submit request for medical/compassionate withdrawal

Review process

Upon submission, the documents (completed request form, personal statement and supporting documentation) will be reviewed. Approval is at the discretion of the college and there is no guarantee a request will be approved. Tuition refunds may be granted. This will depend on each student’s circumstances. For more information see the tuition refund policy.

The review process typically takes a few weeks to be completed. Requests submitted near the end of a semester may have a longer review time due to the increased volume of submissions. Decisions will be sent to the student’s ASU email.

Questions?

Please email  herbergermcw@asu.edu.