Regular Leave of Absence Before Enrollment

A student can apply for a LOA until the final deadline for enrollment. (He/she takes a LOA without paying the tuition fee)

Leave of Absence During the Regular Semesters

• LOA application shall be accepted by the end of the thirteenth week of a semester if he/she has paid the tuition fee. The paid tuition fee can be refunded and the refundable amount may vary depending on the application date. The student needs to pay full tuition for reinstatement later.
• A student who has their application for the tuition fee installment program accepted shall be permitted to take a leave of absence after their tuition for the entire semester is paid.
• LOA requests are not allowed for freshman or transfer students’ first semesters. However, exceptions may be approved if the reason can be certified by a legitimate medical practitioner at a 3rd tier medical institution proving that a student is unable to continue study or attend class longer than 4 weeks due to psychological, physical, or emotional discomfort or challenge.

[Students on leave of absence cannot be awarded/completed.]

Maximum Number of Regular LOA Semesters

• A student can leave up to 2 semesters at a time.
• Maximum number by degree: 6 (undergraduate, 8 for medical dept.) 3 (graduate, 4 for Master’s in Special Graduate School), 6 (Combined Master/Ph.D.)
• Semester(s) for maternity and business start-up are not counted.

Maternity LOA

• A student can take it for one year at one time, up to 2 times in total. One of the parents with a child under 8-years-old can apply.

[Parents with children under the age of 12 or under the age of 6 in elementary school (children under the age of 16 or under the age of 1 in high school if they need long-term care due to their children's physical and mental disorders) may take a leave of absence.)]

• A student needs to submit a medical certificate or a familial relation certificate to the administrative office.
• Paid tuition can be carried forward to the semester of re-entry when a registered student files for a maternity LOA during the semester, in which case no additional fee will be invoiced. A student whose application for the tuition fee installment program is accepted shall be permitted to take a leave of absence after the entire semester’s tuition fee payments are made.

Business Start-up LOA

• A student can take it for one year at one time, up to 2 times in total.
• A student needs to submit the related documents and a business proposal to the Research & Business Foundation for approval and then file a request to the administrative office.

Application

• ① Log in to GLS 
• ② Click the "Application" menu in GLS
• ③ Check VISA related notice for international students 
• ④ Apply for LOA via GLS
• ⑤ Check the result of LOA request

Note

• Since a student visa (D-2) will automatically be nullified in 30 days from the day of LOA, he/she needs to leave Korea before nullification of his/her visa.
• If a student requests an LOA for Korean language study, he/she needs to apply for change in visa type from D-2 to D-4 within 30 days.