TL;DR: A leave of absence (LOA) is your school's formal permission to pause your studies without losing your standing as a student, and it's different from simply not enrolling, which most schools instead classify as absence without leave (AWOL) and treat far more strictly. Maximum duration is set by each school — UP Diliman allows "one (1) year but may be renewed for at most another year," while De La Salle University caps a standard leave at "a maximum of two (2) terms only." An LOA can pause your scholarship eligibility and, if mishandled, complicate the residency requirement your school sets for graduation. File it formally, on time, and confirm your specific school's re-admission process before you leave.
Stepping away from college for a term or more, whether for health, finances, family, or simply needing a break, is common enough that Philippine universities run a formal process for it. But like shifting and transferring, the exact rules — how long you can stay away, what happens to your scholarship, what you need to do to come back — are set by each school individually. This guide walks through the common pattern using real, published policies from named universities, so you know exactly what to check with your own registrar before you file. Figures and quoted language below come from official school sources, cited at the end.
What is a leave of absence, exactly?
A leave of absence is formal permission from your school to stop attending for a defined period while keeping your enrollment status intact. UP Diliman's Revised UP Code states it directly: "A student on leave of absence does not sever his/her ties with the University." That's the key distinction from simply not enrolling in a term without filing anything, which most schools classify as absence without leave, or AWOL, and treat as a more serious break in your record. UP's code is explicit about that consequence too: "A student who withdraws from a college without formal leave of absence... shall have his/her registration privileges curtailed or entirely withdrawn."
Disclaimer: LOA definitions and consequences for AWOL status differ by school. The examples here are real, published policies from named universities, not a universal rule — confirm your own school's specific definitions.
How do you file for a leave of absence?
The general shape is the same everywhere, even though the paperwork differs: a written request to your dean or registrar, stating your reason and the period you're requesting, submitted before your school's cutoff for the term.
UP Diliman's process requires the request in writing to the Dean, and the code sets one hard limit worth knowing: "no leave of absence shall be granted during the semester within two (2) weeks before the last day of classes." De La Salle University runs a more document-heavy online process: students submit a completed LOA form along with supporting documents (for a medical leave, that includes a medical certificate with the physician's contact information) through a Google Form, and the university's Office of the Registrar coordinates sign-offs across Student Development, Financial Aid, Health Services, and the college dean before a decision, which DLSU states arrives "not later than 2 weeks after the submission."
| School | How to File | Published Processing Note |
|---|---|---|
| UP Diliman | Written request to the Dean, stating reason and period | Not allowed within 2 weeks of the last day of classes |
| De La Salle University | LOA form plus supporting documents via Google Form | Decision typically communicated within 2 weeks of submission |
| University of Santo Tomas (College of Architecture) | LOA Portal submission with enrollment proof, signed letter to the Dean, guardian ID, and grade transcript | Reviewed by Guidance Counselor, College Secretary, Assistant Dean, and Dean in sequence |
Disclaimer: filing steps shown above are specific to the named schools' own published processes as retrieved. Every school runs its own version — get the current form and process directly from your registrar.
How long can you stay on leave?
There's no single national maximum; each school sets its own cap, and the published examples vary meaningfully:
- UP Diliman: A leave "may be approved for a period of one (1) year but may be renewed for at most another year," meaning an aggregate maximum around two years if renewed.
- De La Salle University: A standard leave runs for "a maximum of two (2) terms only," with any extension beyond that requiring a separate request to the relevant associate dean.
- University of Santo Tomas (College of Architecture): Its published policy states "a maximum of two (2) years is the allowable duration/effectiveness of the Leave of Absence per University Policy," with extensions possible on a case-by-case basis with the dean's approval.
Treat these as illustrations of the range you'll encounter, not as your own school's rule. If you overshoot whatever maximum your school sets, you're generally no longer automatically entitled to return and may need to go through a formal readmission process, or in some cases apply for Transfer Credentials and start over elsewhere.
Disclaimer: maximum LOA durations shown above are specific, published policies from the named schools and can change. Confirm the current maximum with your own school's registrar.
What happens to your scholarship while you're on leave?
Most scholarships require continuous, active enrollment or a minimum unit load each term to remain valid, which means an LOA commonly pauses or forfeits your eligibility for the terms you're away, even if your standing at the school itself is preserved. This is not uniform across every grant, so the only reliable answer is to check directly with your scholarship or financial aid office before you file, especially for government aid like CHED's Tertiary Education Subsidy, where continued eligibility depends on maintaining enrollment each academic year.
Can you study elsewhere while on leave?
Generally, no, and doing so risks your standing at your home school. De La Salle University's published LOA policy is explicit: students on leave "are not permitted to enroll and study in another educational institution," and "no course taken... from another school may be credited" even if you did. Treat an LOA as a pause on your studies entirely, not a window to take courses elsewhere and transfer them back in.
Does an LOA affect your residency requirement for graduation?
It can, depending on how the leave was handled. UP Diliman's graduation rules state that students "readmitted after being absent without official leave[AWOL]" are subject to the same one-year residence requirement the school applies to outside transferees — a real, concrete consequence of letting a leave lapse into AWOL status instead of properly filing and renewing it. A properly approved and timely-filed LOA is treated as distinct from AWOL under that same code, which is one more reason to go through the formal process rather than simply stop enrolling. Every school's residency and AWOL rules differ, so ask your own registrar how an LOA specifically interacts with your school's residency requirement before assuming the two are unrelated.
What do you need to do to come back?
This is where schools diverge the most. UP Diliman's process is comparatively light: a returning student "shall declare his/her intention to enroll by writing to the University Registrar through his/her College Secretary," and the college secretary annotates the student's record "From LOA" — no full reapplication required. Other schools route returnees through a more structured process; DLSU, for example, has returnees contact their College/School Academic Programming Officer for advising and account reactivation before completing a college-specific return form, while UST's College of Architecture processes LOA returns through the same portal used to file the original leave, with its own document checklist.
Deciding whether to file an LOA
- File before your school's cutoff. Several schools, UP Diliman among them, refuse LOA requests filed too close to the end of the term.
- Get everything in writing, including the exact period approved — this is what protects you from an LOA quietly becoming AWOL on your record.
- Ask your scholarship office first if you're on any form of financial aid, since a leave frequently pauses eligibility.
- Don't take classes elsewhere while on leave unless your school's policy explicitly allows it; most don't, and elsewhere-earned credits typically won't transfer back regardless.
- Confirm the re-admission process before you leave, not when you're ready to return — some schools require documents (grade transcripts, guardian ID, medical certificates) that are easier to gather while you're still an active student.
- If your reason for stepping away is permanent rather than temporary, an LOA may not be the right tool — see our college transferee guide if you're actually planning to move to a different school instead.
- Expect some catching up when you return, especially if the subjects you were mid-way through don't line up cleanly with the curriculum year you re-enter at — the same situation covered in our guide on back subjects and irregular student status.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare enrollment policies and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- UP Diliman Office of the University Registrar — Leave of Absence (Revised UP Code, Art. 401-403)
- UP Diliman Office of the University Registrar — Graduation Requirements (Revised UP Code, Art. 405-409)
- De La Salle University — Leave of Absence
- University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture — Leave of Absence
- SchoolFinderPH — College Transferee Guide: How to Transfer Universities in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — How to Transfer Schools in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Transferee Requirements: Moving to Another College
- SchoolFinderPH — CHED TES Guide
