Liberty University withdrawal policy for 8-week online courses

A drop is the cleanest exit. If you remove a course before its sub-term start date, you receive a full refund and nothing about the course appears on your record.

Sub-terms matter here because Liberty's online courses run in eight-week blocks with several start dates a year. A student registered for a course that starts in late October can still drop it in early October without cost.

Dropping is worth considering whenever a term looks overloaded before it begins. Two writing-heavy courses in the same sub-term, a new job or a family change are all reasons students drop one course and move it to a later start.

Check whether the drop affects your enrollment status. Moving from two courses to one in a sub-term can change financial aid eligibility, which depends on the hours you carry.

Students on employer tuition plans should also check the plan's rules, since some require approval for schedule changes.

Once the sub-term starts, the drop window has passed and the withdrawal rules apply instead.

For an online course, you may withdraw up to the last official day of the course. After that, withdrawal is no longer possible and the course is graded.

A withdrawal posts a W as the final grade. The W stays on the transcript and cannot be changed or removed later.

The W does not count in your GPA, so it does not pull your average down the way an F would. That makes withdrawal a common choice for students who know they cannot pass.

A W can still affect financial aid. Federal aid rules look at the courses you attempt and complete, and repeated withdrawals can put satisfactory academic progress at risk.

There is a special case in week one. If you withdraw within the first week and before you submit your first assignment, which includes the Course Requirements Checklist, the request is processed as a drop for refund purposes, though not for financial aid attendance.

Because the checklist counts as the first graded submission, students who are unsure about a course should decide before they complete it.

The refund for an eight-week online course depends on when you withdraw. Liberty credits 100% of tuition if you withdraw within the first week before submitting the first assignment.

After the first assignment and through the end of week two, 75% of tuition is credited back. Between the end of week two and the end of week four, the credit falls to 50%.

After week four and before the end of week six, 25% is credited. After week six, no tuition is credited at all.

These are tuition credits, so fees may be handled differently. Financial aid can also be recalculated after a withdrawal, which sometimes leaves a balance on the account even when tuition is partly credited.

The schedule rewards early decisions. A student who sees in week two that a course is not working keeps far more of the tuition than one who waits until week five.

Check the current schedule in the official withdrawal information before acting, as published policies can change between academic years.

Withdrawal is not the only option when a course goes badly. If an emergency such as illness, injury, a family crisis or military orders keeps you from finishing, you can ask the instructor for an incomplete.

An incomplete extends the deadline, usually by up to four weeks after the term, and by no more than eight weeks for an eight-week course. The instructor decides whether to grant it.

Finishing is often the better choice when the problem is time rather than ability. A late week can be recovered if the remaining items are planned carefully and submitted on schedule.

Undergraduates who fail a course can retake it later, and Liberty's undergraduate repeat policy counts only the highest grade in the GPA. That makes a retake less damaging than many students fear, though it costs a second round of tuition.

Some students keep the course and get help with the written work in the hardest weeks. On this site, papers, threads and projects can be prepared for you to review and submit yourself, while quizzes and exams stay with you.

Whatever you choose, talk to your academic advisor first. They can show how each option affects your degree plan and aid.

First, find the course's start and end dates in your schedule. The day of withdrawal decides the refund.

Second, check whether you have submitted any graded item. If you have not, a week-one withdrawal may be treated as a drop for refund purposes.

Third, ask financial aid how a W will affect your current and future aid, especially if you have withdrawn from courses before.

Fourth, if you use military or employer tuition assistance, check whether a W requires you to repay that assistance.

Fifth, ask your advisor when the course is offered again and whether withdrawing delays later courses that require it as a prerequisite.

Sixth, consider whether an incomplete or a lighter remaining workload would let you finish instead. A finished course, even with a modest grade, often costs less than a withdrawal and a retake.