Dropping Courses

Students are expected to commit themselves to courses as early as possible in order to succeed in their courses.

The last day to drop or withdraw from a course without receiving a grade is the Official Reporting Day (ORD). Please see the academic calendar for the exact date.

Before dropping courses:

• Students receiving financial aid should see a financial aid advisor
• All F-1 and J-1 international students must see an advisor in the International Student and Scholar Services Office
• Business majors must secure permission from the Office of Undergraduate Business Programs in the Bauer College of Business
• Athletes must see the Associate Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete Services

Beginning in Fall semester 2007, all students (current, transfer, and first time in college students) are permitted a total of six Ws (withdrawals), whether student or instructor initiated. Ws may be used at any time during their college career to drop a course up through the last day to drop a course or withdraw from all courses. When these six Ws have been used, the student must complete all subsequent courses. When enrollment in a course requires concurrent enrollment in another class (e.g., lecture/lab combination), the dropping of such a course combination whether for credit or not will count as one withdrawal if dropped within the same term. The academic department offering the course must verify the concurrent enrollment requirement.

The last day to drop a course with a W is near the end of a term. The specific term deadline is posted on the academic calendar.

Through the last day to drop a course with a grade of W, enrollment in a course may be terminated in any one of the ways listed below. Termination of enrollment does not entitle the student to receive a refund of tuition and fees if the drop date is after the refund date. Should an attempted drop result in exceeding the six W limit, the student will remain enrolled in the course and the instructor will assign the grade earned, which may be an F.

1. Undergraduate students who wish to drop a course must do so online by logging in to their myUH account at https://my.uh.edu.
2. Through the last day to drop a course with a grade of W, an instructor may drop students for any of the reasons listed below. After the last day to drop a course and until the official closing date of the term, instructors may drop students for one of the reasons listed below only with the approval of the dean of the college offering the course. Instructors should notify students of this action.
   1. Lack of prerequisites or corequisites for the course listed in the current catalog. Students who enroll in a course for which they are not eligible and remain in the course knowingly misrepresent their academic records or achievements as they pertain to course prerequisites or corequisites and are in violation of the university's Academic Honesty Policy.
   2. Excessive absences
   3. Causes that tend to disrupt the academic process (except those actions involving academic honesty, which come under the jurisdiction of the academic honesty policy). Disruptive behavior includes the use of or the failure to deactivate cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices likely to disrupt the classroom. Students may appeal such a decision in writing within 30 days through the office of the dean of the college in which the course is taught.
3. After the last day for dropping courses, undergraduate students may be dropped from a course with a W, only for rare, urgent, substantiated, nonacademic reasons. Students wishing to initiate such actions must submit the request in writing to the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs (or designated representative) with accompanying documentation. Students have 90 days after the posting of a grade to initiate this action. Until a decision on this request has been made, the instructor should assign whatever grade is appropriate other than an Incomplete. The review procedure will be the same as that applied for consideration of medical and administrative withdrawals. The student and instructor will be notified in writing of the final decision.

The effective date recorded for termination of enrollment for all matters relating to University of Houston records will be the date the student drops the course through his/her myUH account at https://my.uh.edu or the date the properly approved enrollment change request form is processed by the Registrar's Office, at the Welcome Center.

Students are responsible for verifying that they have been dropped from a course by logging in to their myUH account at https://my.uh.edu or at the Registrar's Office in the Welcome Center.

Students may not receive a W for a course in which they have been found guilty of a violation of the Academic Honesty Policy. If a W is received prior to a guilty finding, the student will become liable for the Academic Honesty penalty, which may be a grade of F.

Term withdrawals (dropping to zero credit hours) do not count toward the limit of six Ws.

Texas Education Code §51.907 provides that, except for several specific instances of good cause, undergraduate students who enrolled for the first time in a Texas public institution of higher education in Fall 2007 or after will be limited to a total of six dropped courses during their entire undergraduate career. This statute applies to courses dropped at public institutions of higher education in Texas including community and technical colleges, health science centers that offer undergraduate programs, and universities. Courses dropped at independent/private institutions, or at colleges and universities outside of Texas, do not count against the student's six drop limit. Students may also refer to the Texas Administrative Code §4.10.

Catalog Publish Date: August 19, 2010
This Page Last Updated: May 17, 2011
Effective Date of Archive: August 15, 2011