Academic Bankruptcy

Academic bankruptcy involves a student’s request to retroactively withdraw from one academic term of study because of extreme personal, emotional or financial circumstances so devastating that it would be impossible for the student to perform academically at a level approximating the usual record of achievement. The summer sessions are considered one academic term. The following specific regulations apply to any petition for academic bankruptcy:

• Only currently enrolled students are eligible to request academic bankruptcy
• Academic bankruptcy is never granted for the academic term in which the student is currently enrolled, nor for the previous academic term.
• Academic bankruptcy is only granted for coursework completed during an academic term at The University of Alabama. Transfer and placement credits are not eligible for academic bankruptcy
• Petitions must be filed prior to graduation
• No more than one petition for academic bankruptcy may be approved during the student’s academic career at UA.
• if the petition is approved, the grades for all courses taken during the academic term in question will be recorded as “W” (withdrawn). A notation will be added to the student’s transcript to denote the academic bankruptcy and the approval date.
• The application for academic bankruptcy is filed in the dean’s office of the academic division in which the student is enrolled. Once a student has been enrolled in an academic division for two terms, that division has the authority to grant academic bankruptcy for a term in which the student was enrolled in another academic division.

Students seeking to apply for academic bankruptcy should contact their academic advisor at the earliest opportunity.