1. (a) District governing boards shall adopt policies governing withdrawal from credit courses that implement the requirements of this section.

   1. (1) Student withdrawal procedures shall be published in the course catalog. These procedures shall provide that students withdraw from a course by notifying the college registrar and that the registrar shall inform appropriate college district personnel, including faculty.

      1. (B) Military withdrawals shall not be counted in progress notice and pause calculations, and shall not be counted toward the permitted number of withdrawals or counted as an enrollment attempt.

         (c)(1) Excused withdrawals shall be allowed to students in extenuating circumstances at any time, upon petition of the student or their representative.

      (b)(1) A student who withdraws prior to the end of the fourth week of a course, or the expiration of 30 percent of a term, whichever occurs earlier, shall not receive the withdrawal symbol “W” on their transcript. A student who withdraws after this period, but before the end of the fourteenth week of a course, or the expiration of 75 percent of a term, whichever occurs earlier, shall receive the withdrawal symbol “W” on their transcript, unless the district selects an earlier final withdrawal date. A student who remains in a course beyond the district withdrawal date may not withdraw, and shall receive the appropriate symbol on their transcript, as authorized in section 55023. The governing board may establish a period of time shorter than the first four weeks or 30 percent of a term, during which no notation shall be made. The “W” shall not be used in calculating grade point averages, but shall be used in determining academic or progress notice and academic or progress pause of a student.

      (2)(A) Military withdrawal occurs when a student on active or reserve status in the United States military or National Guard receives orders compelling a withdrawal from courses. Upon verification of such orders, the military withdrawal symbol “MW” shall be assigned to all courses affected by the military withdrawal.

   2. (2) “Extenuating circumstances” means cases of accidents, illnesses, or other circumstances beyond the control of the student. Colleges shall proactively engage with the student or their representative to identify available college support services that may mitigate the extenuating circumstances and prevent withdrawal. If mitigation efforts are unsuccessful, the student shall receive the excused withdrawal symbol (“EW”) on their transcript. Students shall not be denied an excused withdrawal due to a college's inability to respond to the petition or to provide sufficient assistance to mitigate the student's circumstances.
   3. (3) An excused withdrawal shall not be counted in progress notice and pause calculations, or toward the permitted number of withdrawals or enrollment attempts. In no case may an excused withdrawal result in a student being assigned an “FW” grade.
   4. (4) An excused withdrawal shall be assigned if a determination is made that the student withdrew from a course due to unlawful discrimination or retaliation.
   5. (5) An excused withdrawal shall be assigned if a student withdraws from a course due to an extraordinary condition under section 58509.
2. (d) Neither this section, nor a district's withdrawal policy, may be construed to conflict with district enrollment and attendance accounting responsibilities.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 66700 and 70901, Education Code. Reference: Sections 70901 and 70902, Education Code.

History

1. New section filed 7-17-2007; operative 8-16-2007. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2007, No. 35).

2. Amendment of subsections (a)-(a)(1) and new subsections (a)-(a)(10) filed 5-16-2008; operative 6-15-2008. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2008, No. 21).

3. Amendment filed 9-29-2009; operative 10-29-2009. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2009, No. 43).

4. Amendment of subsection (a)(9), repealer of subsections (a)(9)(A)-(B) and new subsection (e) filed 9-12-2011; operative 10-12-2011. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2011, No. 37).

5. Amendment of subsections (d)(1), (d)(3) and (e) and new subsections (e)(1)-(f) filed 1-23-2018; operative 2-22-2018. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2018, No. 7).

6. Amendment of section heading, section and Note filed 9-20-2022; operative 10-20-2022. Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5 (Register 2022, No. 40).

7. Amendment of subsections (b)(1), (b)(2)(B) and (c)(3) filed 3-18-2026; operative 4-17-2026 pursuant to section 208 of the Procedures and Standing Orders of the Board of Governors. Exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act and OAL review pursuant to Education Code section 70901.5. Submitted to OAL for printing only pursuant to Government Code section 11343.8 (Register 2026, No. 16).