Undergraduate Student Information for Dropping and Withdrawing from Course Enrollment

For Graduate Students, please see your academic department.

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

• We want you to be successful in your courses.
• We want you to make an informed decision on whether to stay enrolled or to drop a course.
• We encourage you to talk with your instructors and appropriate UH staff, as early as possible, for support and guidance about what may be impacting your academic progress and options to support your academic success.
• We understand circumstances may arise that might prevent you from completing your courses and the decision to drop or withdraw may be in your best academic interest.

Checklist before dropping or withdrawing from any courses:

• be sure to evaluate your decision with your instructor first.
• consider if the Excused Absence Policy may be helpful to your circumstances.
• know that completing a drop or withdrawal of coursework may adversely impact your financial aid or campus housing arrangements.
• consider the financial effects of dropping or withdrawing from courses by speaking with a Financial Aid advisor and review the Financial Aid Withdrawal Policy.
• review the University of Houston Refund Policy for related deadlines.
• consider and discuss with the appropriate advisor or staff the impact your withdrawal may have on international student visa status, scholar-athlete status, housing, health insurance plan and other such significant areas that may impact you academically, personally or financially.

Common Questions - Answered:

• 6W limit - When a student term withdraws (drops from ALL courses in the same semester), it does not count against a student's limit of 6Ws.
• 6W limit - If a student has exceeded their 6W Drop limit, they may still Request Term Withdrawal.
• 6W limit - If a student has exceeded their 6W Drop limit, they may seek an exception for an additional drop for qualified reasons. See the student policy resource page on 6Ws limit for more information.
• Deadlines - There are deadlines to drop/withdraw. See the UH Academic Calendar. If the deadline was missed for emergency or medical reasons, see Late Withdrawal page for more information.
• Deadlines - The deadline to appeal a grade is 90 days from the posting of the grade.
• Refunds - There are different refund deadlines for dropping and withdrawing. See the UH Refund Policy. Refunds are based on the effective date of the drop/withdrawal as it aligns with the refund policy.
• GPA & Academic Standing - when a grade changes, the GPA will adjust automatically. If applicable, university academic standing will be amended according to the revised GPA. Students with a cumulative GPA below 2.0 should keep in mind that while on academic probation (GPA below 2.0) any future semester GPA below a 2.0 puts at student at risk of academic suspension. Engineering students - please see the Cullen College of Engineering webpage for information on Probation and Suspension.
• Transcript grade, drop by ORD - A drop or withdrawal by the Official Reporting Date (ORD) results in no reported grade and no grade on transcript.
• Transcript grade, drop after ORD - A drop or withdrawal after the Official Reporting Date (ORD) results in a W grade reflected on the transcript. 

Dropping and Withdrawing from Course Enrollment

When dropping course(s), students should understand the difference between drop and term withdrawal. 

Dropping Course(s)

To drop a course means you are going to maintain some enrollment for the academic semester.
Dropping all courses for the semester, a full withdrawal, is referred to as a "term withdrawal."
After reviewing the checklist above, students certain about dropping any courses should do so by the drop deadlines posted in the academic calendar to ensure no grades or W grades are posted for the courses. Keep in mind there is a State of Texas limit to 6 course drops (6Ws). Students may drop course(s) directly in their UH student account. 

Term Withdrawal

Dropping ALL courses for the semester, a full withdrawal, is referred to as a "term withdrawal."
Students may Request Term Withdrawal from all courses within the same semester within deadlines.
After reviewing the checklist above, students certain about withdrawing should do so by the withdrawal deadlines posted in the academic calendar to ensure no grades or W grades are posted for the courses. See here for steps to Request Term Withdrawal in UH student account

Military Withdrawal 

Refer to Students called to Active Duty
For assistance, see Registrar’s Office, UH Welcome Center , Tel: 713-743-1010
See also UH Veterans Services

Policies and Resources