On September 29, the Academic Registrar’s Team announced major changes in regulations regarding the academic leave of absence. Starting from the current semester, there will no longer be a limit on the number of leaves that a student can take. This decision was made to provide students with more opportunities to develop character and skills and have well-rounded experiences outside of the school curriculum.

Nonetheless, in order to prevent students from abusing the newly established system, those who wish to extend their leave of absence beyond the prescribed semesters  are required to submit an additional application that will go through an additional step in the extension approval procedure. For general leaves and leaves due to illness, the number of prescribed semesters has remained the same: four for undergraduate and doctoral students, and two for master’s students. However, prescribed leaves related to startup activities have been extended from four to six semesters. Additionally, leaves due to pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare are now the same for  both male and female students —  four semesters per child under the age of 8. 

For the Fall 2021 semester only, the application for leave of absence will stay open until October 15. For further inquiry, please contact the Academic Registrar’s Team at registrar@kaist.ac.kr or call 042-350-2364 for undergraduate students and 042-350-2365 for graduate students.