Leave of Absence (Beurlaubung)

If important reasons prevent you from attending your courses, you should apply for a leave of absence.

A leave of absence must

• be applied for when re-registering for the next semester, meaning within the deadlines for re-registration and
• before payment of the related fees.

When applying for a leave of absence after the re-registration period (January 15 to February 15 or June 15 to July 15), a reason for the late application must also be submitted.

It is only possible to take a semester of leave outside of the re-registration periods in specific, justified cases, if the applicant can demonstrate that he or she was unable to submit an application at an earlier time, and that there is a reason for taking a leave of absence for the entire semester.

A leave of absence is not allowed if a student has already participated in a process related to performance evaluation, or if more than eight weeks of the lecture period have elapsed.

A leave of absence

• is valid for one semester.
• is permitted only for full semesters.
• is typically granted for a maximum of two consecutive semesters and shall not be granted for more than four semesters during the duration of a degree program. Periods of protection under the Maternity Protection Act, parental leave, and periods of military service are not deducted from the maximum permissible duration of the leave of absence.
• is not possible during part-time studies.
• is not permissible for the first semester of a degree program for which students enroll at the University of Potsdam.

The application for a leave of absence may not be withdrawn after expiration of the registration period for courses under Section 9 of BAMA-O or BAMALA-O.

During the leave of absence

• the student is not entitled to attend university courses or visit university institutions, with the exception of the library.
• the student is entitled to complete an internship required by the degree regulations.
• the counting of semesters is suspended unless the student is awarded at least 25 credit points for work done during the semester of the leave of absence.
• German financial aid (BAföG) is generally not paid. BAföG recipients are required to notify the BAföG Office of their leave of absence before the semester they take it.
• students are still subject to fees and contributions if not otherwise specified by the fee schedule of the Association for Student Affairs or the statutes of the student government. For more information, please see the table below.

Further information

• The submission of the application is done via your PULS-Account (Submit Applications).
• The application must be accompanied by appropriate proof for the reason of your request (Documents Upload).
• Under certain circumstances you may be exempted from the student service fee (see table below).
• According to the contract for the purchase of the Deutschlandticket, students who are taking a leave of absence are not entitled to a  Germany Semester Ticket ("Deutschlandsemesterticket").
• Additional information regarding a “Leave of Absence for Study Abroad” can be found on the pages "Study and Internships Abroad".