Academic and Financial Policy Regarding Tuition and Drop Dates

The Graduate School follows the University Registrar's Calendars for academic registration dates. A summary of the drop dates and associated processes and penalties follows:

Time of Semester	Drop Process	Possible Penalty
First day of class until Census Date¹	ConnectCarolina Student Center	None
Day after Census Date until Final Online Drop Date²	ConnectCarolina Student Center	Tuition Repayment
Day after Final Online Drop Date until Administrative Drop Deadline³	Drop Form w/ DGS and GS Dean Signature	Tuition Repayment; Academic

Explanation of Possible Penalties

Tuition charges are not adjusted by the University once the Census Date has passed, because instruction has been provided and a “seat” has been taken.
When dropping a course after the Census Date, students are still responsible for paying any associated tuition charges. Refunds will not be processed.
Students who receive a tuition remission and/or in-state tuition award (i.e. state of North Carolina tuition provided through The Graduate School) will have the award that covered the credit hours for the course dropped rescinded. Students are then personally responsible for paying the tuition costs for the credit hours dropped.
This policy applies to both in-state and out-of-state tuition from the state of North Carolina provided through The Graduate School.
Note that there will be financial penalties for students who drop a course after the Census Date, even if full-time status is maintained due to enrollment in 992/993/994.

Receiving approval for a drop past the Final Online Drop Date is not guaranteed. Directors of Graduate Study and the Dean of The Graduate School have discretion to disallow a drop request if, at the time a student requests the drop, the instructor judges the student’s performance to be failing.

The day of the tenth class meeting in a semester is considered the Official University Enrollment Reporting Date or “Census Date”. Students may drop courses via ConnectCarolina Student Center until this date without academic or financial penalty. The Census Date is the last day to reduce course load and have tuition adjusted. (Note that dropping all courses requires processing a withdrawal of enrollment from the University and follows a different prorated refund policy.)
The last day for graduate students to drop a course online is typically approximately eight weeks after the first day of classes for a semester.
The Administrative Drop Deadline is typically approximately two weeks before the final day of classes for a semester.

Updated: Fall 2021