Academic Considerations
Coursework:
- A medical leave of absence provides time for students to focus on treatment and support for a health concern. Thus, students on medical leave are not permitted to be on the Bowdoin campus or enroll in courses offered by Bowdoin College. Additionally, students may not participate in the life of the college, including co-curricular activities, while on MLOA.
Taking courses elsewhere:
- In order for students on medical leave to be eligible to transfer credits back to Bowdoin, they must obtain prior approval from the Office of Dean of Students prior to the course start date. Once approval has been granted, students must follow the College’s transfer credit process.
- Requests for transferring course credit for more than two courses, regardless of the duration of the leave, are seldom granted and require prior approval of the Recording Committee.
- In all cases, if a student enrolls as a degree-seeking student at another institution, that student will be administratively resigned from Bowdoin. If the student later wishes to return to Bowdoin, they must apply through the admission process as a transfer student.
Transcript:
- A student's medical leave status will not appear on their transcript.
- If a student withdraws any time after the second week of classes, a withdrawal (W) grade notation will be recorded for all courses in that semester. The grade of (W) does not affect GPA but does appear on an official transcript.
Financial Considerations
Tuition:
- Students who leave the College during the first five weeks of classes are eligible for a refund of a percentage of tuition in accordance with the schedule set by the Bursar.
- There is no reimbursement after the fifth week unless someone has purchased an optional Tuition Refund Plan. Students with questions should contact the Bursar.
Financial Aid:
- Students on financial aid should discuss the effect of a leave on their financial aid award or loans prior to going on Medical Leave. Contact the Office of Student Aid to make an appointment.
- Guided by the federal Satisfactory Academic Progress regulations, students are expected to make normal progress toward the degree, defined as passing the equivalent of four full-credit courses each semester. All courses, whether or not they are successfully completed, count in calculating a student’s academic progress for aid eligibility purposes; this includes individual courses for which a student received a W and medical leaves, which generally result in an entire term’s courses being recorded with a W.
Health Insurance:
- The student health insurance provided by Bowdoin College is in effect from August 15 through August 14 of the following year (12 months).
- Students who are enrolled on the insurance plan offered through the College, and have met the eligibility requirement prior to their leave, will continue to be covered under the plan for the remainder of the coverage period. If the medical leave continues into the following academic year, students who were enrolled on the plan offered through the College the prior academic year, are eligible to elect coverage for the upcoming plan year (8/15 through 8/14 the following year). Students will be contacted by Health Services if they are eligible for the coverage and provided an enrollment form to complete the process.
- While on MLOA, students are not able to receive on-campus services, including Health Services and Counseling Services.
Please contact the Student Health Insurance Coordinator at healthservices@bowdoin.edu with questions regarding your student insurance coverage. If you use a private insurance carrier, please check with your private insurance carrier regarding health coverage during your leave of absence.
On-Campus Housing
- Students going on MLOA are asked to move out of any on-campus residence (if applicable) within 48 hours of requesting the leave. Students who need additional time must request this through the Office of Residential Life.
- Please note that Bowdoin does not provide on-site storage.
- While on medical leave, students are not eligible to participate in the housing lottery, unless they complete the Intent to Request Re-enrollment Form within the articulated timeframe.
- The Office of Residential Life will make an effort to accommodate students returning from MLOA, but cannot guarantee that an on-campus housing space will be available in the case of extraordinarily high demand.
Visa Considerations for International Students
- Taking a leave of absence can have significant visa-related implications. International Students must contact their Dean concerning their visa status.