It is highly recommended that you read the pages in the Leaves of Absence section in order from top to bottom
This guide is helpful for CMU students who:
- Are struggling with any experience that could necessitate an LOA (e.g. death in family, financial hardship, mental health concerns)
- Have either received confirmation or foreshadowing of a required Student Affairs leave
- Are currently on a Student Affairs leave
- Have recently returned from a Student Affairs leave
- Know someone else at CMU navigating the Student Affairs leave process and would like to support them
- Note: Although some of the steps in this document can pertain to those under academic leave, the process of taking and returning from an academic LOA is different than what I’m covering here and can be found at CMU’s website
Background
Carnegie Mellon is a school that prides itself on the work ethic and resilience of its students. I mean, you’ve seen our motto (Figure 1), how it paints us as unbreakable machines of achievement. But this does not reduce the very real struggles students face. Many of us struggle intensely while studying at CMU, whether from financial, social, academic, personal, or familial stressors. Often, it overwhelms us, and this is not our fault.
Figure 1: The infamous motto in Sorrells Library, Wean floor 4
When this happens, students will often take a Leave of Absence (LOA), where they will pause their studies at CMU for some time. An LOA can be taken voluntarily through your academic department, but in certain dire situations, Student Affairs can also involuntarily place a student on leave, with a return to CMU hinging on various conditions.
My Story
In fall 2025, at the start of sophomore year, I was really, really struggling. After a long spell of depression, I sought therapeutic support from numerous programs that went nowhere, causing me to fall further behind in my classes and withdraw from peers. Following a mental health crisis in November, Student Affairs sent me home on an involuntary LOA. What followed was a process of intensive outpatient therapy, correspondence between my treatment teams at home and at CMU, and a lot of sitting around and waiting before I was finally cleared to return for spring 2026.
While I was away, I found that there was little information anyone in my support team could give me on what I needed to do to return, not through any fault of their own, but because every LOA situation is different enough that there is no one-size-fits-all procedure. That said, I hope this document will help calm the anxiety of bureaucratic radio silence during a Student Affairs LOA, as well as highlight some steps you can expect to take to get back to CMU.
Disclaimer
I am one person who went through one single LOA scenario, and though I’ve consulted others at CMU about this topic, there are still areas where I’m not completely informed due to lack of firsthand experience. See the Additional Resources page so you can determine who to contact if you have a question about something I haven’t covered in this document.