Extension Policies

An instructor is not required to approve a request for a first or second 30-day extension, so students shouldn’t count on always being able to get an extension. For the longer special extensions, the approval will be based on the documentation provided, the length of time the actual circumstance covered, and a student's previous work in the course. 

• Instructors have 72 hours to decide on an extension request.
• If an instructor fails to respond to a student's correctly submitted request within 72 hours, students should check the information within their ecampus, or contact [email protected] for assistance.
• Courses may be extended in two 30-day intervals for a maximum of 60 days.
• Extensions are always granted based on the original course end date. The longest extension would be 60 days from the original course end date, rather than the date the extension was approved.
• The deadline for submitting all work for an extension is 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time on the extension end date posted. For example, if the end date is 02/24/2009, a student would have until 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time on the 24th to complete all course requirements.
• Regardless of when a student on extension finishes their coursework, the instructor has until 8 days after the approved extension ends to submit a final grade. An instructor may post a final grade before the official extension end date if all work has been submitted.
• If a student does not complete the course requirements by the end of their extension, they will receive a grade for the course based on the work they completed, including a failing grade if appropriate, based on the grade and percentage of coursework submitted in relation to the overall requirements of the course.

Eligibility for a Course Extension

• A student must have successfully completed at least 50% of the total coursework, including at least one assignment after the mid-point of the course.
• Be in week 5 of an 8-week course or week 9 of a 16-week course.

If a student does not meet the eligibility requirements above, but has an extreme circumstance such as deployment during the course to an area without internet access, a serious medical issue, or other similar situation, they should read the section on Extensions for Military Deployment and Other Special Circumstances.

Please note: Students can only request a second extension if they have completed a substantive amount of coursework on any previously approved extensions as determined by the instructor.

Students Considering a Course Extension

If circumstances prevent a student from completing all required coursework before the end of the course, they should consider all options before deciding to request an extension in a course.

Registration

If a student has 2 or more courses on extension, they will be blocked from further registration until their open extensions are reduced to one. Also, if a student is requesting an excessive number of extensions in their program or has had to make use of a special circumstance or post-course extension due to overextending themselves with other commitments, they may be restricted to part-time registrations.

Graduation

Extending a course may impact a student's planned graduation date as all courses, including course extensions, must officially end before their planned degree conferral date. Once a student is assigned a conferral schedule based on their requested course extension, we are not able to move them back to an earlier conferral.

Future Registrations

If a student has two or more concurrent extensions approved and has future registrations that will begin before the end of their extensions, they may be dropped from these future courses if the basis of the extension request was due to being overextended in the demands on their time.

Financial Aid

If extending a course overlaps an academic semester, and/or blocks a student from further registration, this could have an impact on financial aid. Also, once a course enters the extension period, it NO LONGER counts as a current enrollment, which would impact a student's enrollment status for both financial aid awards and loan deferments.

Air Force Students

It will be the student's responsibility to submit their final grade report to their ESO for their course, so any failing or Incomplete grade previously posted is updated in the AI Portal. Also, the Air Force will no longer cancel TA recoupment even if a final grade for an extended course is eventually posted. They now require any grade change to be submitted to them before 30 days from the original course end. This means the Air Force will require recoupment for a student's extended course, even if they do successfully finish it by the end of a 30-day extension if a previous final grade had been posted before the extension was approved. If a student requests and is approved for an extension that is longer than the Air Force allows from the original course end date, a student's TA for the course will be recouped by the Air Force regardless of the final grade.

Withdrawing

If a student wants to extend a course, they may no longer have the option to withdraw online from the course once their extension has started. However, if a student has a new circumstance that will prevent them from being able to complete their extension, they may appeal for a special circumstance withdrawal using the official Academic Appeal Request form in their ecampus under the University Forms menu.

Final Grades

APUS does not allow Incomplete grades to remain on record permanently. Any extensions that are still not completed by 30 days after the course end date will receive a grade for the course based on the work completed, including a failing grade if appropriate, based on the grade and percentage of coursework submitted in relation to the overall requirements of the course.

How to Request an Extension

• Students must submit extension requests using the online form which can be found in their ecampus under the Academic Plan & Forms menu, under the All Forms link. If a student does not currently have access to the Internet and needs to request an extension, they should contact [email protected] or call the university’s toll-free number and ask for help submitting the online form.
• Students will need to submit a separate form for each course.
• Students must submit a detailed work plan with their extension request showing exactly which date they will be submitting each outstanding forum, quiz, assignment, paper, or test.
• Students must request an extension BEFORE the course or current extension ends.
• Students must meet the eligibility requirements to submit the request. 
• Decisions are emailed to a student's email address on record, so they must remember to verify on the extension form that their email address is current before they submit the form.
• If a student has not heard back from their instructor after 72 hours, they should check the information regarding their course in their ecampus, as extension dates will appear there, or they may contact [email protected] to check on the status of the request.