Readmission of student service members to the University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh will promptly readmit a service member with the same academic status they had when last attending or accepted for admission. This requirement applies to any student who cannot attend school due to military service.
Definitions
Military service (or service in the uniformed services)—Voluntary or involuntary service in the armed forces, including service by a member of the National Guard or Reserve on active duty, active duty for training, or full-time National Guard duty under federal authority, for a period of more than 30 consecutive days under a call or order to active duty of more than 30 consecutive days. This does not include National Guard service under state authority.
Service member—someone who is a member of, applies to be a member of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, or has an obligation to perform, service in the uniformed services.
Appropriate officer—A warrant, commissioned, or noncommissioned officer authorized to give such notice by the military service concerned.
Armed Forces—the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard.
Active duty—full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. Active duty includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned. Active duty does not include full-time National Guard duty.
Notice and Procedure
The student must notify the school of their military service and intention to return to school as follows:
- Notification of military service. The student (or an appropriate officer of the armed forces or official of the Department of Defense) must give oral or written notice of such service to the University of Pittsburgh Office of Veterans Services (“OVS”) as far in advance as is reasonable under the circumstances. This notice does not have to indicate whether the student intends to return to the school and may not be subject to any rule of timeliness. (Timeliness must be determined by the facts in each case.) Alternatively, at the time of readmission, the student may submit an attestation of military service that necessitated their absence from school. No notice is required if precluded by military necessity, such as service in operations that are classified or would be compromised by such notice.
- Notification of intent to return to school. The student must also give oral or written notice of their intent to return to their program of study to OVS within three years after the completion of the period of service. A student who is hospitalized or convalescing due to an illness or injury incurred or aggravated during the performance of service must notify OVS within two years after the end of the period needed for recovery from the illness or injury. A student who fails to apply for readmission within these periods does not automatically forfeit eligibility for readmission but is subject to the applicable University of Pittsburgh policies or practices generally governing student leaves of absence, readmission, and/or reinstatement.
OVS suggests that students providing Notification of military service or Notification of intent to return to school do so sending an email to the Director of OVS at the following address veterans@pitt.edu, or orally by calling 412-383-5580, in order to ensure accuracy and expeditious processing, but such notice is not required to follow any particular format. When a student is requesting readmission, they will be required to provide any supporting documentation requested by the University, in accordance with 34 C.F.R. § 668.18(g).
The University of Pittsburgh will promptly readmit the student into the next class or classes in the program beginning after they provide notice of intent to reenroll, unless they request a later date or unusual circumstances require the University of Pittsburgh to admit them at a later date.
The University of Pittsburgh will admit the student with the same academic status, which means:
- to the same program to which the student was last admitted or, if that exact program is no longer offered, the program that is most similar to that program, unless they choose a different program;
- at the same enrollment status, unless the student wants to enroll at a different enrollment status;
- with the same number of credit hours previously completed, unless the student is readmitted to a different program to which the completed credit hours are not transferable; and
- with the same academic standing (e.g., with the same satisfactory academic progress status) the student previously had.
If the student is readmitted to the same program, for the first academic year in which they return, the University of Pittsburgh will assess the tuition and fee charges that they were or would have been assessed for the academic year during which they left the school. However, if their veteran’s education benefits or other service member education benefits will pay the higher tuition and fee charges that other students in the program are paying for the year, the University of Pittsburgh may assess those charges to the student as well.
If the student is admitted to a different program, and for subsequent academic years for a student admitted to the same program, the University of Pittsburgh will assess no more than the tuition and fee charges that other students in the program are assessed for that academic year.
The cumulative length of the absence and of all previous absences from the University of Pittsburgh for military service may not exceed five years. Only the time the student spends actually performing service is counted.
Helping students to be readmitted and when it might not occur
If the University of Pittsburgh determines that the student is not prepared to resume the program with the same academic status at the point where they left off or will not be able to complete the program, the University of Pittsburgh will make reasonable efforts at no extra cost to the student to help them become prepared or to enable them to complete the program. This may include providing refresher courses and/or other remedial measures as the University deems appropriate under the circumstances.
The University of Pittsburgh is not required to readmit the student if it determines:
- that there are no reasonable efforts it can take to prepare the student to resume the program at the point where they left off or to enable them to complete the program; or
- that after it makes reasonable efforts (those that do not place an undue hardship on the institution), the student is not prepared to resume or complete the program.
“Undue hardship” means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense considering the overall financial resources of the school and the impact of such action on its operation.
The University of Pittsburgh has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the student is not prepared to resume the program with the same academic status at the point where they left off or that they will not be able to complete the program.