Penn State
Lewis Katz Building, University Park, PA
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Drop-Add

A student may not drop or add a course after the expiration of the drop/add period except with the permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs may permit a student to drop a course after expiration of the normal, one-week drop-add period and before the final work product for the course is due (either the examination date or the date when the final paper or similar product is to be submitted) if the student demonstrates, in writing and in the judgment of the Associate Dean, adequate justification for dropping the course. Examples of adequate justification include:

  1. hardship, especially if at the close of the normal drop-add period the circumstances or the events precipitating the hardship were unknown to and could not have been reasonably anticipated by the student; and
  2. uncertainty from the reasonable perspective of the student, continuing until the time when application to drop the course is filed, as to whether the student needs the course credit to meet usual academic requirements necessary for that student to complete his or her studies in ordinary course (e.g., the student took the course only because he or she was uncertain as to whether he or she might win a position on a law review or on an appellate or trial team for which credit is awarded upon successful completion of a competition.) The Associate Dean should make a prompt decision on any request to drop a course and should, in ordinary course, ascertain whether the course professor has reason to object.

Note:  If a late drop, or add, is approved, please note that the university charge is $6 per transaction. For example, a person who drops one course and adds another would be charged for two separate transactions.