Leaving During Program

If you are not attending classes, you are not maintaining your status. This means you are required to depart the United States, except in specific situations. If you have been put on probation, suspended, intend to take a leave of absence (LOA) or intend to withdraw - these all require you to work with ISSS to determine the options and timeline available to you.

If you are leaving RPI during your program, you must contact ISSS first before submitting a Leave of Absence (LOA) request. Students often call a LOA a "gap year" or "gap semester". There are federal regulations that impact how long you can remain here, what are the options you have, and ISSS is the only office who can advise you on this.

• Undergraduate students must consult a Student Support Dean in the Dean of Students Office (DOSO) and submit paperwork to take a LOA or withdraw.
• Graduate students must consult the Office of Graduate Education and submit paperwork to take a LOA or withdraw.
  • For more information about graduate student leave of absences, please refer to The Graduate Student Supplement to The RPI Student Handbook in Section 4: Leaves and Returns (p. 8).

In most cases for international students, you must also leave the country within a very short period of time. This will be discussed in greater detail when you meet with ISSS staff.

Transfering Out of RPI

All F-1 students who intend on continuing study at a new school in the U.S. need to transfer their SEVIS record from RPI to the new school. This includes students currently on OPT.

• If you are a current student who is not completing your program of study, you must formally withdraw from RPI.
• If you are a current student who is graduating, you must transfer your record within 60 days of your Program End Date as listed on your I-20.
• If you are on Post-Completion OPT or STEM OPT, you must transfer your record within 60 days of your Post-Completion OPT or STEM OPT End Date on your EAD Card.