Withdrawing from Liberty University Online

Academic Activity

After a course begins, if a student participates in the course through any kind of Academic Activity, the student will not be able to drop the course. Academic Activity includes any of the following:

• Submitting the Course Requirements Checklist
• Posting to the course’s Discussion Board
• Submitting an assignment that can receive a grade
• Emailing or contacting the faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course

Letter of Intent (For Total Withdrawals)

• If a student completes a total withdrawal and is registered for future courses in a later sub-term/semester, the student must submit a Letter of Intent in order to remain in the future courses.
• If the Letter of Intent is not submitted at the same time as the withdrawal, then the future courses will be dropped.
• The Letter of Intent may be sent through the Intent to Withdraw Form or through the prompt provided by your Academic Advisor.

Consequences of Withdrawing

• A withdrawal does not affect a student’s GPA, but it will result in a permanent “W” on the student’s transcript.
• Loss of tuition and possible tuition rate change. Please email the Student Accounts Office at StudentAccounts@liberty.edu for a calculation.
• Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress: To use Financial Aid, students must maintain a 67% completion rate. This means students must complete 67% of the credit hours they attempt. Please note: completion rates are not rounded up to meet progress. For example, if a student has a completion rate of 66.666%, they are not meeting the minimum 67% federal requirement.
• When a student withdraws from a course, he or she has attempted to earn credit hours, but has earned 0. Therefore, withdrawals negatively affect a student’s completion rate and Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress.
• Withdrawal fee – A total withdrawal carries a $50 processing fee.

R2T4 (Return of Title IV Financial Aid)

• If a student completes a total withdrawal, the Financial Aid Office will complete a calculation to determine if some or all of the student’s financial aid must be returned (Federal Pell Grant, Federal Direct Student Loans, etc.).
• If a student completes a total withdrawal prior to the loan disbursement, or if the student withdraws below half-time (6 credit hours is half-time for undergraduate and graduate, three credit hours is half-time for post-graduate and doctoral programs), then the loan disbursement will be canceled.

Contact Us

If you have immediate questions, please contact LUO Academic Advising by emailing LUWITHDRAWAL@liberty.edu, or calling (800) 424-9595.