Absences from Campus and Online Classes

Students are advised to work directly with their instructor as personal emergencies arise that prevent satisfactory class attendance. A student who expects to be absent due to extended mitigating circumstances should contact a dean, advisor, or coach and his or her instructor. The university has defined the following as possible mitigating circumstances: serious illness of the student, serious illness of a member of the student’s immediate family for whom the student is the primary caregiver, death of a member of student’s immediate family, military deployment, unforeseen travel requirements, or relocation related to the student’s employment. To request an accommodation or waiver based on mitigating circumstances, the student must provide a dean, advisor, or coach and his or her instructor with the appropriate written documentation supporting the student’s claim of mitigating circumstances. If the student’s request for an accommodation is granted based on the documentation provided, a dean, advisor, or coach will notify the student. Students may be required to submit additional documentation before enrolling in subsequent quarters to demonstrate that the mitigating circumstance has been alleviated or no longer exists. 

If circumstances are such that, due to the extended length of the class absences or anticipated absence, the preferable course of action is class withdrawal, the student may petition an advisor or coach for withdrawal and consideration for a tuition and/or fee adjustment and/or waiver of the withdrawal fee. Appropriate written documentation supporting a withdrawal request must be provided to the advisor/coach.

For campus and synchronous classes, a student who is absent from four consecutive class meetings (two consecutive class meetings for mini-sessions), will be withdrawn automatically from that course. Note: in situations when a class was rescheduled because the originally scheduled class was cancelled or fell on a scheduled Strayer holiday, it is possible that the four (two for mini-sessions) consecutive class meetings may be greater than or less than 28 (14 for mini-sessions) calendar days.

An online student who is absent for four (two for mini-sessions) consecutive academic weeks (i.e., for online classes an academic week is Monday, 12:00 a.m. EST to Sunday at 11:59 p.m. EST) will be withdrawn automatically from that course.

A student who does not attend any of the classes for which he or she is registered in a term will be administratively withdrawn from the university.