University of Pennsylvania
What Penn says
Exact quotes from Penn’s official pages, checked word for word on Oct 22, 2026.
Students begin their request for a leave of absence by speaking with an advisor in the College Office to discuss their reason for taking the leave and their plans for the time away from Penn.
— college.upenn.edu ↗Students are encouraged to request a leave of absence before the beginning of the semester in question.
— college.upenn.edu ↗The standard length of a College leave of absence is one full calendar year.
— college.upenn.edu ↗Return Request Timeline July 15 for enrollment in the fall semester November 15 for the spring semester
— college.upenn.edu ↗Students take time away from their studies for a wide variety of reasons, including to: Work on a political campaign
— catalog.upenn.edu ↗Written by AI from the quotes and pages we read. It may be incomplete or wrong; the school’s own pages win.
- Penn's College appears to require a leave request after talking with a College Office advisor.
- No fixed date is stated; requesting before the semester begins seems encouraged.
- Leave looks like one calendar year; other schools differ.
- Reasons accepted: any personal reason (List includes career-related opportunities; College standard leave is a full year).
- Time away allowed: 1 full calendar year.
- Classes start Jan 20.
Before you decide
Check on the following…
- Will my spot be held?Check how long your school keeps your place and whether you have to apply to come back.Ask: Registrar
- Will I graduate later?A term off can push back your graduation. Ask which required classes only run in the spring.Ask: Academic advisor
- Is there a deadline to ask?Some schools want your leave request before January. Find out the exact date and the form.Ask: Dean’s office or registrar
- What happens to my scholarships and aid?Ask whether your scholarships and grants pause while you’re away or end, and what you need to do to get them back.Ask: Financial aid office
- When would I have to start repaying loans?Student loans usually stop being deferred when you’re not enrolled. After a short grace period, often six months, payments can start.Ask: Financial aid office
- Will I still have health insurance?A student health plan usually needs you to be enrolled. Make sure you’re covered from January to April.Ask: Student health office
- What about my housing?Ask whether you can leave your housing contract without a penalty and whether you’ll get housing when you come back.Ask: Housing office
- I’m on a student visa. Does this affect it?For F-1 students, not enrolling usually ends your visa status. Talk to this office before anything else.Ask: International student office
Hackathon
Entrepreneurship center
- Penn Engineering Entrepreneurship ↗Penn Engineering's entrepreneurship program: courses, fellows and venture funding.
- Penn Venture Lab ↗
- Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship ↗
Hard-tech team
- Penn Aerial Robotics ↗Undergrads building aerial robots and UAVs.
- Penn Aerospace Club ↗Aerospace projects, competitions and speakers.
- Penn Electric Racing ↗Student-run electric race car team.
Why 77
Spend the winter building. Southbound runs Jan 11 to Apr 11, 2027 in Miami. Acceptance is rolling.
What we could find (checked Oct 22, 2026). Not final: confirm dates and aid with your school before you act. One older page (not about the facts shown here, e.g. graduate or billing policy) is among the sources. Older pages: srfs.upenn.edu/policies-procedures/policies/reduction-tuitio (last changed Jul 2024). We date pages from server timestamps, page metadata, “last updated” text, PDF dates and the Wayback Machine.