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Excused Withdrawal Guidelines

Granting Excused Withdrawals is allowed under current title 5 regulations, and there is no exemption required to do this.

The option to grant excused withdrawals was established in regulation in 2018. Pursuant to California Code of Regulations, title 5 (title 5) section 55024(a)(10) and 58509, a district need not record a withdrawal (W), or grade on the transcript of a student who withdraws due to fire, flood, or other extraordinary conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

In these cases, districts are permitted to record no evaluative or non-evaluative symbol. Districts also have the option of recording an EW for these students. Additionally, title 5 , section 55024(e) allows districts to grant an excused withdrawal to a student who withdraws due to specific events beyond their control such as a job transfer, family illness, incarceration, transfer or release from a jail or prison, immigration actions, accidents, illnesses, or other student specific circumstances. Excused withdrawals are not counted toward progress probation and dismissal calculations or toward the number of permitted student withdrawals. 

To request an *Excused Withdrawal (EW) due to an extraordinary condition, please submit the Petition for Exception of Registration Policies. On the petition, please include details on how you were affected by this extraordinary condition and the course information. At times students may be asked to receive faculty support depending on the condition. 

*The EW grade symbol will appear on a student’s official transcript but will not count in the Grade Point Average (GPA) or as an attempt.