office of the Registrar

Limits on Dropped Courses & Withdraws

This policy is to help students stay on course for graduation with minimal cost for the student.                     

Section Bill 2183, 80th Legislature; THECB Regulations, Chapter 4, Section 4.10(a) states, beginning with the fall 2007 academic term, and applying to students who enroll in higher education for the first time during the fall 2007 academic term or any term subsequent to the fall 2007 term, an institution of higher education may not permit an undergraduate student a total of more than six dropped courses.

Withdrawal Definition 

A student is considered to have withdrawn from the institution when the student drops all courses during the semester.
Note: If a student has received a grade for the semester, the student is not allowed to withdraw from the remainder of the courses. The student must contact the instructor to determine how to best complete the course requirements.
A student, who withdraws from all courses during a semester, may not register for any courses until the following semester.

Course Drop Definition

A course drop, which will be recorded on the transcript, is defined as an affected credit course not completed by an undergraduate student who:

• Is enrolled in the course at the official date of record*, and
• Will receive a non-punitive grade of W or QW

*Date of record varies according to the length of the course.

For example: If a semester starts on Monday, Thursday of that week is considered the 4th class day for all classes.

Student Affected

The following limitations on dropped courses apply to all undergraduate students entering Texas Public Higher Education for the first time in fall 2007 or thereafter:

An undergraduate student enrolled at Texas A&M – Central Texas is permitted a total of 6 dropped courses, including any transfer courses dropped at any other Texas public institution of higher education. Any course dropped before the date of record does not count in this total.

After a student has accumulated 6 dropped classes, he or she will not be permitted to drop any class unless unusual circumstances exist, as determined by the student’s academic dean.

An appeal to the Academic Dean for extenuating circumstances applies only after the student has accumulated 6 drops.

Excluded Courses From Limit

Drops from the following type of courses are excluded from the course drop limit.

• Courses taken by students while enrolled in high school – whether for dual credit, early college credit, or for college credit alone.
• Courses dropped at private or out-of-state institutions.
• Remedial or developmental courses, workforce education courses, or other courses that would not generate academic credit that could be applied to a degree.
• Aerospace Studies courses not eligible for formula funding.
• Courses taken as required co-requisites such as a lecture class with a required laboratory are counted as one drop whether or not identified as separate courses or as separate sections of a course.
• Courses which meet the definition of complete withdrawal.