Deferrals

The Graduate School offers admission with the expectation that students will matriculate in the semester specified during the application process. If extraordinary circumstances could prevent you from matriculating, you may submit a request to defer your enrollment for up to one calendar year.

Deferral requests are not automatically granted. They must be evaluated and approved by the department and by the Dean of GSAS.

Please carefully review the information on this page, including the degree-specific details provided via the drop-down sections, below.

Deferral Deadlines

August 1 is the final deadline to request a deferral. Deferrals are not possible after this date. 

Deferral Eligibility

  • Spring term applicants may not request deferrals. If you are admitted for the spring semester and are unable to enroll, you may reapply for fall-term admission.
  • Applicants admitted from a summer waitlist are not eligible for deferrals.
  • Applicants admitted to the MA program in Mathematics with a Specialization in the Mathematics of Finance (MAFN) may not defer their admission. There will be no exceptions to this rule. Admitted MAFN applicants who wish to delay their enrollment will need to reapply to the program.
  • Any applicant who has been granted one deferral may not defer a second time.

Deferred Applicant Enrollment Process

Columbia ID Information

After a deferral request is granted, the applicant’s assigned Columbia University Network ID, or UNI, will be inactivated. Columbia email accounts are available only for currently matriculated students. You may reactivate your UNI approximately 7-10 business days after you have accepted the updated offer of admission for your new enrollment term.

Email Correspondence

All communication from GSAS, including your updated offer of admission, will be sent via email. Therefore, it is essential that your contact information is up to date in the application system.

Please review the email address you used to create your application to confirm that you have reliable access to messages sent to that inbox.

If you need to update the email address associated with your application, please log in to your application account. Scroll to the bottom of the applicant status page, click the link to “Change Email Address,” and follow the instructions that will appear.

If you have questions or need further assistance, please email [email protected].

Spring Enrollment

In October, an updated offer of admission will be released. Please log in to your application account to view the new letter and to formally accept the offer of admission for the spring term.

Additionally, you are required to submit the Academic Update Form, which will appear on your applicant status page after you have viewed your updated admission letter.

Fall Enrollment

Enrollment Confirmation Requirement
In November, you will be contacted via email and asked to submit an Enrollment Confirmation form to confirm your enrollment plans.

Submission of this form is mandatory.  

If you do not submit the form to confirm your intent to enroll for the fall term, your offer of admission will no longer be valid. If you later decide that you wish to enroll at GSAS, you must reapply for a future term.

Fall Admission
If you have submitted the Enrollment Confirmation Form, an updated offer of admission will be sent in February. Please log in to your application account to view the new letter and to formally accept the offer of admission for the fall term.

Additionally, you are required to submit the Academic Update Form, which will appear on your applicant status page after you have viewed your updated admission letter.

If you have been offered admission to a doctoral program and are facing extraordinary circumstances that could prevent you from matriculating, you may request a deferral.

Please note that requests are not automatically granted. They will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and must meet a high bar for approval. 

Deferral requests will be reviewed by both the program's Director of Graduate Studies and the Dean of GSAS and will be granted only with unanimous approval.

Requesting a Deferral Before April 13

Please submit your request via the Fellowship Response Form, which is available on the Application Status Page.

A formal approval or denial letter will be released when a decision has been reached.

On April 14 and April 15, deferrals are not possible.

During the two final days of the doctoral application season, you must either accept or decline the offer of admission.

Requesting a Deferral After April 15

If, after accepting an offer of admission, you are faced with extraordinary and unexpected circumstances and feel that you must request a deferral, please email [email protected] with the following information:

  • Subject line: "PhD Deferral Request"
  • Include your full name and application ID number
  • Write from the email address associated with your application
  • Provide an explanation of the reason you must request a deferral

Deferral requests will be reviewed by both the program's Director of Graduate Studies and the Dean of GSAS and will be granted only with unanimous approval.  A formal approval letter will be sent to you if the request is approved. If the request is denied, you will be notified via email.

If extraordinary circumstances will prevent you from matriculating, you may submit a request to defer your enrollment for up to one calendar year.

Important Notes:

  • Deferral requests are not automatically granted; each request will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
  • Most programs do not offer for spring enrollment. Please contact your program for information before making a request to defer to the spring semester.
  • If your offer of admission included funding, there is no guarantee that this funding will be granted to you for any enrollment term other than the one to which you have originally been admitted. Please contact your program for more information before requesting a deferral.

Requesting a Deferral

First, accept the offer for the current term by submitting your tuition deposit. This deposit must be paid on or before the response deadline noted in your admission letter.

After the tuition deposit is received, the Deferral Request Form will appear on the Applicant Status page.

Submit the Deferral Request Form, indicating the intended term of enrollment and providing a brief explanation for the request.

A formal approval or denial letter will be released when a decision has been reached.

Preparing to Enroll

You will be notified via email when your updated offer of admission has been released.

To accept the offer for the new enrollment term, you must submit an additional tuition deposit.

The tuition deposit paid to accept your initial admission offer and the deposit submitted to accept the new offer will both appear on your student account. Tuition deposits are nonrefundable, with the exception of errors that arise during payment processing. More information about tuition deposits is available here.

In addition, you must submit the Academic Update Form, which will be available on your applicant status page after you have viewed the updated admission letter.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions, or if your enrollment plans have changed.