A Leave of Absence (LOA) is a temporary interruption in a Future Professional’s program of study. LOA refers to the specific time during an ongoing program, when a Future Professional is not in academic attendance.
A Leave of Absence (LOA) may be granted in documented cases of emergency, documented medical reasons, or documented extenuating personal circumstances. Leaves of Absence will be granted in the case of maternity/paternity, a letter from their doctor would be required. If a Future professional is called into Active Duty for the Military, the school will grant a leave of absence, back up documentation would be required. Students will be granted a Leave of Absence for the death of an immediate family member. Immediate family is limited to the spouse, parents, stepparents, foster parents, father-in-law, mother-in-law, children, stepchildren, foster children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, and/or nephews.
Future Professionals may not arbitrarily decide to “take” a leave of absence.
Future Professionals must request an LOA in writing, either via email or paper format, stating the reason for the leave, provide applicable back up documentation and receive approval from the Future Professional Success Coach and Financial Aid prior to taking the Leave. The Future Professional will be notified, in writing, by the Future Professional Success Coach using the Leave of Absence Acknowledgment form of the decision. The Leave of absence, if approved, will be effective the day the Future Professional Success Coach approved the request. Any absences that occur during the time it takes to approve the request, must be made up and will not be excused, unless they fall under our Excused Absence policy in the catalog.
The following criteria must be met in order to take a leave of absence:
- The Future Professional submitted a written request, with the reason for the leave of absence and applicable back up documentation.(Unless unforeseen circumstances prevent the Future Professional from doing so.)
- The leave of absence was reviewed/approved by the school’s Future Professional Success Coach and Financial Aid Department.(Please see the Coaching and Corrective Action Policy and the Corrective Action Steps policy located in the catalog for additional information.)
- The leave of absence must be a minimum of 14 calendar days and must not exceed a total of 180 calendar days in a 12-month period.
- Service members called up to active duty, regardless of the period of absence as long as it does not last longer than 3 years, may be granted a LOA past the 180 calendar days.
In special circumstances, the school may grant a leave of absence to a Future Professional, such as (but not limited to) a car accident or other medical emergency that would prevent the Future Professional from requesting a leave of absence in advance. In these cases, the school will document the reason for granting a leave of absence from the documented date of the incident, after the incident has occurred.
If enrollment is temporarily interrupted for an LOA, the student will return to school in the same progress status as prior to the LOA. The hours elapsed during an LOA will not be included in the student’s cumulative attendance percentage calculation. Students may be granted one LOA in a twelve-month period.However, in the case of unforeseen circumstances and at the school’s discretion, the student may be granted a subsequent LOA. The total time for the LOA must be a minimum of 14 calendar days and may not exceed 180 calendar days in a twelve-month period. An approved LOA will extend the student’s contract period by the same number of days taken in the leave and will result in no additional charges to the student.
For Title IV aid recipients, the Future Professional’s payment period is suspended during the LOA and no Title IV aid will be disbursed for a Future Professional while on leave. Upon the Future Professional’s return, the Future professional will resume the same payment period and coursework and will not be eligible for additional Title IV aid until the payment period has been completed.
During an approved Leave of Absence (LOA), should the Future Professional find themselves unable to return on the original approved return date, the Future Professional is responsible for reaching out to their Future Professional Success Coach prior to their scheduled return date. If the Future Professional needs to request additional time, they must follow the LOA process and request an additional LOA, in advance.The subsequent request must be approved.
A contract addendum will be completed upon return from the LOA to extend the contract end date by the applicable number of days. If a Future Professional does not return to their program of study at the end of the scheduled LOA, the Future Professional will be withdrawn from the program. Title IV loan recipients who do not return from LOA and are withdrawn from their program of study, will enter their loan grace period as of their last date of attendance. Future professionals who withdraw prior to completing the course of study and who wish to re-enter within 180 days will re-enter at the same progress status as applicable at the time of withdrawal.