Dropping or Withdrawing

Dropping One or More Courses

To determine the specific information about the last day to register for college classes, consult the college’s Academic Calendar for the appropriate semester. Students who have been cleared to register on Student Planner may change their schedules online, although no student may drop a course on the Web. Students wishing to drop a developmental course must see their developmental instructor, who is authorized to make changes to students’ developmental course placement. Students may not withdraw from courses by use of the Web. Students initiate this procedure with their Student Success Coach.

A schedule change fee of $25 will be charged for all changes made once the term begins, except those initiated by the college or those processed by the student on the Web.

Withdrawing from OC

In order for all records to be left in proper order, students who leave OC before the end of a semester or before the end of a class for which they are registered must follow the official withdrawal procedure. Students initiate this procedure with their Student Success Coach. When an individual other than the student initiates a withdrawal, that individual must be identified and verified for the student’s protection, and that individual must provide written authorization from the student. Students who stop attending class without completing the withdrawal process will receive an “F” in the class for the semester. The withdrawal process is complete only after the student has returned the signed withdrawal form to his/her Success Coach and received a receipt showing the courses dropped.

Students who drop classes or completely withdraw prior to the official census day for the semester will not be assigned a grade for the class or classes dropped. No record of the class will appear on their permanent academic records. The date of the census day, for each term, is listed in the Academic Calendar. Contact your Student Success Coach with any questions.

Grades of “W” will be assigned to all students who withdraw during the official withdrawal period of any semester or session. The last day to drop or withdraw is published in the Academic Calendar. A complete withdrawal will NOT count towards a student’s drop limit.

Students who are part of Armed Forces Reserves may withdraw with a full refund if the withdrawal is due to their being ordered into active duty. A copy of the student’s orders must be presented to the Records Office  at the time of the withdrawal. For details, please contact your Student Success Coach.

The college reserves the right to withdraw students from any one or all of their classes if in the judgment of college officials such withdrawal is in the best interest of the student or the student body.

Course Drop Limitations - 6 Drop Rule

This bill provides that, except for several specific instances of good cause, undergraduate students enrolling as first-time freshmen at a public institution of higher education in fall 2007 or later will be limited to a total of six dropped courses during their entire undergraduate career while attending any public institution in Texas.

Under section §51.907 of the Texas Education Code, “an institution of higher education may not permit a student to drop more than SIX courses, including any course a transfer student has dropped at another institution of higher education.” This statute was enacted by the State of Texas in spring 2007 and applies to students who enroll in a public institution of higher education as first-time freshmen in fall 2007 or later. Any course that a student was enrolled in for credit, but did not complete, is counted toward the six-course limit if:

1. the student was able to drop the course without receiving a grade or incurring an academic penalty;
2. the student’s transcript indicates or will indicate that the student was enrolled in the course; and
3. the student is not dropping the course in order to withdraw from the institution.

The following exemptions for good cause could allow a student to drop a course without having it counted toward this limit, but it is the responsibility of the student to establish that good cause. Contact your Student Success Coach for more information before you drop a course.

1. a severe illness or other debilitating condition that affects the student’s ability to satisfactorily complete a course;
2. the student’s responsibility for the care of a sick, injured, or needy person if the provision of care affects the student’s ability to satisfactorily a course;
3. the death of a person who:
   1. is considered to be a member of the student’s family under a rule adopted under this subsection for purposes of this subdivision; or
   2. is otherwise considered to have a sufficiently close relationship to the student under a rule adopted under this subsection that the person’s death is considered to be a showing of good cause;
4. the active duty service as a member of the Texas National Guard or the armed forces of the United States of:
   1. the student; or
   2. a person who is considered to be a member of the student’s family under a rule adopted under this subsection for purposes of this subdivision.

Policies and procedures for implementation of this statute are being developed and will be published as soon as they are available.