Leave of Absence

Graduate students at The University of Texas at Austin may apply for a leave of absence of no more than two long semesters (consecutive or not) as a master’s student, and again for two long semesters (consecutive or not) as a doctoral student prior to advancement to doctoral candidacy. Leaves of Absence after advancement to doctoral candidacy are approved only for rare and unusual circumstances.

The Title IX Office facilitates leaves of absence, on a voluntary basis, for pregnant and parenting students. Visit the Title IX Pregnancy and Parenting Leave of Absence page for more information.

Contact an ECE Graduate Coordinator prior to the possible semester of leave to ask about the appropriate Leave of Absence form and for more information. The ECE student’s supervising professor, or Track Advisor if the student does not have a supervising professor, must approve the leave of absence via email to an ECE Graduate Coordinator before the Graduate Advisor of ECE overall will review and possibly approve the leave of absence request, and sign the form. The ECE Graduate Coordinator will send the signed form to the Graduate School prior to the semester of leave for review and possible approval by the Dean.

Please note that a graduate student has no student status while on leave, may not use any University facilities, and is not entitled to receive advice from any member of the faculty. The benefits of a leave of absence include readmission upon reapplication without the need for an admit or deny decision, and a waiver of the reapplication fee. A leave of absence does not alter the time limits for degrees or coursework. There cannot be a long semester gap of non-enrollment between a semester of leave and the semester of return or the benefits of the leave of absence no longer apply.

More information can be found here: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/policies/leaves-of-absence