Withdrawing from a Course

For more information on withdrawing for a course, please refer to the Course Withdrawal policy on the Office of the Provost's website.

Undergraduate students may withdraw from a course during the withdrawal period (see the different student schedules for information about withdrawing time frames and dates on the Academic Calendar). Courses withdrawn from will be present on a student's transcript with a grade indication of "W", which indicates that the course was attempted but not completed. 

Be aware that withdrawing from courses can have serious financial and academic implications, possibly affecting billing, financial aid, VA benefits, eligibility to participate in NCAA athletic events, and for international students — their visa status. Additionally, it may impact your ability to progress in your major, as in the case of withdrawing from prerequisite courses. It may also impact your eligibility for financial aid as described in the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy.

Students are strongly encouraged to thoroughly discuss their decision with their course instructor, academic advisor, and Drexel Central representative before deciding to withdraw. Students are considered the responsible party of their academic records and are held accountable for making the determination to withdraw.

Students considering withdrawing from a course should:

• Meet with their instructor and discuss their performance and progress in the course. Students may need to get the instructor's signature on the Course Withdrawal Form [PDF] as verification of a discussion regarding their performance and progress in the course, see below for more information.
• Meet with their academic advisor to discuss performance in the course and program as well as to explore potential impacts of withdrawing on their program plan of study. Students may need to get their advisor’s signature on the Course Withdrawal Form [PDF] to denote that the decision to withdraw and the impacts of this action have been discussed, see below for more information.
• Submit the request to withdraw through the electronic withdraw process or by submitting the Course Withdrawal Form [PDF] to Drexel Central, where financial counseling can also be obtained. Appeals submitted to Drexel Central after the deadline will not be accepted or processed and must be directed to the student's academic advisor.

Course Withdrawal Process

• The University currently has two processes for withdrawing from a course; electronically, via DrexelOne, and by using the Course Withdrawal Form [PDF]. While most students on the quarter calendar will be able to use the electronic course withdrawal process, there are restrictions. Please see below for more information.

In order to electronically withdraw from a course, students should:

• Log in to DrexelOne.
• Navigate to the Academics tab.
• Select the "Register for Courses" button.
• From the new menu, select "Register for Courses."
• Choose the current term from the drop-down menu and select "Continue."
• In the "Summary" window is the listing of your courses. In the "Action" column, select the "Web Withdrawal" option for the course you wish to withdraw from.
• Select the "Submit" button.

Restrictions

• Graduate students in the College of Nursing & Health Professions and Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering will not be able to withdraw from a course electronically. These students should use the Course Withdrawal Form [PDF] and collect the signatures of both their course instructor and academic advisor prior to submission.
• Withdrawing from non-web viewable courses (likely, if the student was registered for a course by the academic department or college, it is non-web viewable-example COOP 101). Students should use the Course Withdrawal Form [PDF] to withdraw from these courses.
• If withdrawing from the course will violate visa requirements. More information can be found on International Student and Scholars webpage.
• If you have a hold that impacts your ability to register for courses, such as a financial hold. Students should use the Course Withdrawal Form [PDF] to withdraw from courses while having a hold that impacts registration.
• Withdrawing from all classes for the term. Students should speak to their academic advisor if they are considering withdrawing from all courses for a term.
• A course withdrawal is not permitted in situations involving academic dishonesty. A course withdrawal that was processed before a final sanction of academic dishonesty is applied will revert to the grade assigned by the instructor in accordance with the Academic Integrity Policy.