To leave a class or the program at Walden, you submit a Walden University withdrawal form through the myWalden student portal. There are two separate forms: a Course Withdrawal Request Form for exiting a single class after the drop period, and a University Withdrawal Request Form for ending your enrollment entirely. Walden will also accept an email request, but the portal form is what the university prefers, and a call to your instructor or advisor does not count as a withdrawal.1Walden University. Registration Policies
Check the Drop Window Before You Withdraw
Through Day 7 of a standard term, you can drop a course with no financial penalty and no mark on your transcript. The course vanishes from your record as though you never registered, and the credits do not count toward your Satisfactory Academic Progress calculation. For two- and three-week courses, that penalty-free window is only the first three days.1Walden University. Registration Policies
If you are still inside that window, drop. Do not withdraw. The two actions look similar from the outside, but a drop keeps your transcript, your refund, and your aid clean, while a withdrawal does not.
Submitting the Course Withdrawal Request Form
Once Day 7 has passed, dropping is no longer available, and you need the Course Withdrawal Request Form in myWalden. Submit one request per course; duplicates create confusion in the system.
The effective date of your withdrawal is the date you submit the form, not the last day you logged in or turned in work. That timestamp drives everything that follows: the grade on your transcript, how much tuition you owe, and how much federal aid you keep.1Walden University. Registration Policies If you are leaning toward withdrawing, the cost of waiting is real.
Submitting the University Withdrawal Request Form
Leaving Walden entirely requires one extra step before the form. You must speak with a student success advisor first (or an enrollment specialist if you are a new student) so the university can confirm it has offered you the support options available to you.2Walden University. Academic Progress and Grading Policies You can reach the Student Success Advising Team at studentsuccess@mail.waldenu.edu or 1-800-WALDENU (925-3368).
After that conversation, submit the University Withdrawal Request Form through myWalden. An emailed request also qualifies as official, but the portal is preferred. The effective date is again the submission date.2Walden University. Academic Progress and Grading Policies
If You Plan to Drop Every Course
Dropping all of your classes is not the same as withdrawing from one of them several times over. If you want to drop every course on your schedule, you must notify both a member of the Student Success Advising Team and the Office of the Registrar in writing. Submitting individual course withdrawal forms for each class does not satisfy this requirement.1Walden University. Registration Policies
What the Withdrawal Does to Your Transcript
A course withdrawal places a W on your transcript. The W does not factor into your GPA, but it stays on your record permanently, even if you retake the course later.3Walden University. What Is the Last Day to Withdraw From Class This holds as long as your effective date is on or before the published last day to withdraw for that term.
Withdraw from the university before that deadline, and every course registration for the term converts to a W. Withdraw after the deadline, and you receive grades based on whatever coursework you actually completed up to the effective date.2Walden University. Academic Progress and Grading Policies That distinction is the one worth watching. A W is GPA-neutral; a letter grade assigned on incomplete work can be an F. Check Walden’s academic calendar for the exact withdrawal deadline for your term before you submit.
Tuition Refunds and the 60 Percent Title IV Threshold
After the drop period ends, how much tuition you still owe depends on when you withdraw. Walden applies a sliding scale through its published refund policy, with the amount you owe growing as the term progresses. Two- and three-week courses have no refund-eligible withdrawal window at all; the only penalty-free exit is the three-day drop period. Program fees become non-refundable seven calendar days after the start of the term, and any credit balance from drops during the drop/add period is refunded within 14 calendar days.4Walden University. Refund Policies Questions about refund balances go to refund@mail.waldenu.edu.
If you receive federal grants or loans, there is a second calculation on top of the tuition refund. The Return of Title IV Funds rule requires Walden to determine how much federal aid you actually earned based on the percentage of the payment period you completed before withdrawing. Complete 30 percent of the term, and you have earned 30 percent of your aid; the other 70 percent goes back to the federal programs.5eCFR. 34 CFR 668.22 – Treatment of Title IV Funds When a Student Withdraws
The number to know is 60 percent. Once you have completed more than 60 percent of the payment period, you are treated as having earned 100 percent of your Title IV aid, and no return is required.5eCFR. 34 CFR 668.22 – Treatment of Title IV Funds When a Student Withdraws The percentage is calculated by dividing the calendar days you completed by the total calendar days in the payment period. If you are weighing a mid-term withdrawal, knowing where you stand against that 60 percent line can be the difference between keeping your aid and owing thousands back.
Loan Grace Period, Exit Counseling, and SAP
Dropping below half-time enrollment starts a six-month grace period on your Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized Loans. Your first payment is due the month after the grace period ends. Return to at least half-time before it runs out and the clock pauses, giving you a fresh six months if you leave again later. If the grace period fully expires, you do not get another one.
Federal law also requires exit counseling when you leave school or fall below half-time. It walks you through repayment plans, deferment, and forbearance, and you can complete it at studentaid.gov. If you withdraw without finishing it, the university is required to send you the materials within 30 days.6Federal Student Aid. Direct Loan Counseling
A withdrawal also hits your Satisfactory Academic Progress standing. Withdrawn courses count as attempted but not earned, which pulls down your completion rate and can cost you eligibility for future aid. Before withdrawing, ask your student success advisor how the W will land on your SAP calculation.1Walden University. Registration Policies Losing SAP eligibility means no federal aid until you successfully appeal or earn your way back into compliance.
Leave of Absence as an Alternative
If your situation is temporary, a leave of absence may serve you better than a withdrawal. Walden defines a leave as a break of 30 to 180 calendar days with a clear intent to return, and you can take one or more leaves totaling up to 180 days within a rolling one-year period that begins on the first day of your initial leave.7Walden University. Leave of Absence
To qualify, you must be in active enrolled status and experiencing hardships that make effective academic progress unusually difficult. Your student success advisor initiates the written request, which must state the reason. If unforeseen circumstances prevent an advance request, the written request must still reach the university before the term’s withdrawal deadline.7Walden University. Leave of Absence
Two things to know. If your program completion deadline will expire during the leave, you have to file and win an appeal for a deadline extension before the leave can be granted. And while you are on leave, Walden reports you as “W” to the National Student Clearinghouse, so loan servicers will see you as not currently enrolled, which can affect your grace period the same way a withdrawal does.7Walden University. Leave of Absence Students who do not return from an approved leave are administratively withdrawn as of their last date of participation.
If You Hold an F-1 Visa
International students on F-1 visas should not submit a withdrawal form without first speaking to Walden’s international student services team. Withdrawing from your program can terminate your student status in SEVIS, and federal rules then give you 15 days from the termination date to leave the United States.8Study in the States. Termination Reasons Withdraw without approval from your designated school official and you may lose even that 15-day window. A leave of absence, reduced course load authorization, or transfer to another SEVP-certified school may be a better option, but the conversation has to happen first.
Stopping Attendance Is Not a Withdrawal
Walking away without submitting the form does not spare you the paperwork. Walden will administratively withdraw students who stop participating, and first-time students who complete no assignments by the end of Day 7 are administratively withdrawn from the university entirely.2Walden University. Academic Progress and Grading Policies An administrative withdrawal uses your last date of participation as the effective date, which generally lands you in a worse place financially than a voluntary withdrawal submitted when you first knew you were leaving.
Coming Back Later
Withdrawal is not permanent. Students who left, whether voluntarily or because they failed to register, must apply for reinstatement or readmission to return, and reapply for financial aid if needed. You cannot simply re-register for courses.1Walden University. Registration Policies If you think there is a reasonable chance you will return, ask your student success advisor whether a leave of absence would preserve your enrollment and make the way back simpler than a full withdrawal and readmission.