Undergraduate Time Away: Leaves of Absence
A leave of absence is a temporary leave from the Institute during your academic career. Both the leave and the return must be approved by the undergraduate deans.
What kinds of things can you do while on leave?
Life is not linear. Caltech doesn't have to be either! A significant proportion of undergraduate students choose to take time away from campus for various reasons. Sometimes they are engaged in the creation of a startup, or are interested in spending a term focused on a particular area of research. Some folks decide to focus on their mental or physical health for a bit, understanding that Caltech is a challenging environment when you're not feeling your very best. (And even when you are!) Other students decide to sample a different institution, or even hike part of the Appalachian Trail with some friends. Family situation that needs your attention? Cool internship opportunity? All of these are excellent reasons to take a break. After all, Caltech isn't going anywhere! This website is meant to help explain how taking time away works—and to help make it as smooth a process as possible.
What are the different kinds of leaves?
How long is a leave?
Typically, a leave of absence must be for a full term or more and can initially last up to one calendar year. A leave of absence may be further extended by contacting the undergraduate deans' office. There is no limit to the number of leaves a student may take, although there are some implications for financial aid at a certain point. (See FAQs below.)
Whom should I contact about taking a leave?
Given the structure of Caltech's curriculum, it is recommended that a student contemplating leave meet with their advisor, registrar and/or a dean to discuss the preferred length of leave, depending on their program of study. In order to take the required Core classes consecutively, first-year students should seriously consider returning the same term (fall, winter, spring) they initiate the leave.
International students should consult with the International Student Programs Office regarding visa implications prior to submitting the leave petition.
Students on financial aid will also want to confer with the Financial Aid Office. (See FAQs below.)
The Leave Form must be submitted by the last day of classes if a student wishes to take a leave for the current term. For the 2026-27 academic year, those dates are as follows:
- DEC 4, 2026 for Fall 2026-27
- MAR 10, 2027 for Winter 2026-27
- For Spring 2026-27:
- MAY 28, 2027 for Seniors
- JUNE 4, 2027 for all other undergraduates
Caltech considers students on an approved leave to be matriculated; however, students on leave are not currently enrolled and therefore do not enjoy all rights and privileges of enrolled students. Students who are on leave are still subject to all Institute policies, including the Institute Sex-and Gender-Based Misconduct Policy. Violations of policy may affect a student's eligibility to re-enroll.
Students on Leave may:
- Remain on Caltech health insurance for up to a year.
- Access free telehealth counseling support in all 50 states at https://app.timelycare.com/auth/login. TimelyCare primarily provides short-term support, but students may be able to access up to 12 sessions, which is roughly 3 months of therapy, while on medical leave. Learn more about TimelyCare at this link: https://wellness.caltech.edu/resources/timelycare-and-other-tools.
- Request continued access to their Caltech email account by contacting IMSS. While students will lose access to Regis and Canvas, copies of transcripts can be requested from the Registrar.
- Consult with their advisor and otherwise plan for their academic future; however, they will not receive credit for courses unless they are properly enrolled.
- Career Achievement, Leadership, and Exploration (CALE) is open to all students who have not been permanently separated from the Institute, regardless of leave or enrollment status, unless otherwise revoked by the Director of CALE or the deans' office. For questions regarding the full scope of these limitations, please contact the deans' office.
- Petition to work on campus. If a student taking leave wishes to work on campus during their leave, or to access any resources not outlined above, they should fill out the following form, which will be reviewed by the deans. Failure to gain a dean's permission to be active on campus or accessing resources inconsistent with those requested in the petition, will be considered when a student on any type of leave applies to return.
Students on Leave may not:
- Attend classes or labs or serve as a TA for any class
- Access certain student resources, including Student Wellness Services or Residential Life activities, programs, or services
- Serve in elected leadership positions
- Live in Institute housing or retain card access to housing
- Students currently living in housing when they go on leave will have 5 days to vacate their housing assignment
- Students who have not yet moved into housing when they go on leave will have their housing contract and reservation cancelled
- If on leave during the Spring term, students may not:
- Participate in the spring housing lottery
- Build senior stacks
A student's eligibility to participate in the consecutive summer SURF is determined by the Student-Faculty Programs office and the deans.
What are the financial aid implications of a leave? (FAQs)
If you are considering a leave of absence, we strongly encourage you to contact the Financial Aid Office before you file your leave paperwork so they can discuss your specific situation.
No. Students are not eligible to receive financial aid while on an approved leave of absence. Since you aren't enrolled in coursework during your leave, there's nothing for aid to be disbursed against. Aid resumes only once you're back and enrolled (see Question 5 for how that works).
When you go on an approved leave, you stop being enrolled, so you stop earning financial aid as of your withdrawal date. Caltech is required by federal regulations to calculate how much of your federal aid you actually "earned" for the term, based on how much of the term you completed before withdrawing — this is called Return of Title IV Funds, or R2T4.
If the amount of aid already disbursed to you is more than what you earned, the unearned portion must be returned. If it turns out you earned more than you were actually paid, you're eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement of the difference.
Practically, this means your aid for the term you leave is prorated to the portion of the term you attended -- it is not simply cancelled, and it is not simply kept in full. The exact math depends on your withdrawal date (see Question 4).
There isn't a fixed number of terms written into policy-- instead, federal rules cap the total amount of coursework you can attempt while remaining eligible for aid. This is called the Maximum Timeframe rule, and it's set at 150% of your program's published length. For example:
- A Caltech B.S. requires a minimum of 486 units to graduate.
- 150% of that is 729 units -- the maximum number of units you can attempt and still receive financial aid.
- An "attempted" unit is any unit you're still enrolled in after the Add period for a term, including courses you later withdraw from.
A leave of absence itself doesn't use up units, since you aren't enrolled in coursework while on leave. But time away can affect your overall pace toward the 729-unit ceiling once you return, especially if you also have withdrawn courses (W grades) on your record from before the leave. If you're unsure where you stand, the Registrar's Office can pull your attempted units total for you.
Source: Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) – Maximum Timeframe
This depends entirely on when your withdrawal date falls, and it's calculated in two separate steps by two separate offices:
It depends on whether you return within the same academic year you left, or return in a new academic year: