Acceptable Reasons to Defer Admission and Procedures - SCHOOLCONTENTS.info

Acceptable Reasons to Defer Admission and Procedures

Defer admissions!
Some students are hearing about the possibility of deferring their admissions for the first time. Some have heard about this opportunity to postpone academic resumption to a future date but were not sure how to go about it.


In this post, I will be showing you what it means to officially defer admission, how to go about it if you're in need, popular schools accepting deferments of admissions, conditions of accepting and approving deferments of admissions, and a lot of other related concerns.

What's Deferment of Admissions, Why Should You?

Generally, the following are some reasons that are often considered acceptable for deferring admission:


  1. Health Reasons: If a student has a medical condition or health issues that would prevent them from attending classes or participating in other campus activities, they may be able to defer their admission until they recover.
  2. Financial Reasons: If a student is facing financial difficulties and cannot afford to pay for tuition and other expenses, they may be able to defer their admission until they can secure the necessary funds.
  3. Personal Reasons: If a student is dealing with personal issues, such as family problems, a death in the family, or a personal crisis, they may be able to defer their admission until they can resolve these issues.
  4. Educational Reasons: If a student needs to complete a prerequisite course or another educational requirement before starting their degree program, they may be able to defer their admission until they fulfill those requirements.
  5. Professional Reasons: If you have been offered a job opportunity or internship that would be beneficial to your career, you can request for deferment of admission.
  6. Military Reasons: One acceptable reason to defer admission to a university or college is for military service. If you have received a call-up to serve in the military, you can request to defer your admission until you have completed your service.
  7. Pregnancy Reason: Pregnancy can be a valid reason to request for deferment of admission in some cases. If a student is pregnant, they may face physical and emotional challenges that could affect their ability to attend classes, participate in activities, or complete assignments. 


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Popular Schools Allowing Students To defer Admissions

While deferment of admissions is well known among the newly admitted, it's not uncommon to see students in the 200 or 300 levels deferring their classes for one or two of the earlier-mentioned reasons.


However, while some schools may only limit such opportunities to the 100-level candidates, some do that only for the returning students, while others may consider both categories of students for the deferment of admissions.


On this note, below is the list of universities, polytechnics, and colleges that may allow you to defer your admission.


  1. Most federal universities
  2. Most state universities
  3. Most private universities
  4. Most federal polytechnics
  5. Most State polytechnics
  6. Most private polytechnics
  7. Most federal colleges of education
  8. Most state colleges of education
  9. Most private colleges of education


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Don't be confused, as specific names of certain institutions will be mentioned below. However, the list above ascertains that very many universities, polytechnics, and colleges have provisions for deferring admissions of their aspirants.


However, it's been observed that most schools have manual approaches to the process of deferring admissions. Yet, a few, as listed below, have dedicated procedures for it, on their official websites or are well-known among the students.


  1. University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) Enugu State
  2. University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Port Harcourt, Rivers state
  3. Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Kaduna State
  4. University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Kwara State
  5. Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo, Osun State
  6. and others

Steps to Follow in Order to Defer Admissions

For reasons including health, lack of finance (even though not usually applicable to foreign students), loss of sponsors, over-engagements (usually official), change of location, partial loss of interest, pregnancy (especially in the case of Nursing students), etc., a newly admitted student or a returning one can apply for deferment of admission which will not only help him or her retain his or her studentship but also allow him/her to official miss/avoid the current or future academic year and resumes on the deadline of the deferment.


Generally, it's expected of all universities, polytechnics, and colleges to have official provisions for students who may wish to defer their admissions based on management-concluded reasons. This will not only help a distressed student to retain his or her studentship but also assist him or her to get over the concerns and later further his or her studies with the same institution on resumption when due. However, not all institutions are allowing the deferment of admission.


It's important to note that where admission is deferred, the affected students will only be given the chance to resume the first-year academic work or the year of approval academic arrangements rather than being allowed to skip the classes altogether and continue to year 2. In other words, on resumption, you're to start where you left off (usually at the 1 level or the very level where it was approved). Not that, you will join those who attended the deferred year lectures. They're now a year ahead of you!


Generally, these steps will work for all universities, polytechnics, and colleges.


  1. Visit the school admission office. You can do this immediately after being offered admission. It's important to be there a few weeks before classes will commence.
  2. Table your situation before the admission officer. The admission officer will guide you right on the steps to take including how to write the deferment letter, the fees to pay, the form to fill, the deadline for the application, and when you're expected to return for classes if approved.


Similarly, a few schools with dedicated pages to the guidelines for deferment of admissions had given us clues to what is expected of all institutions.


For example, according to the University of Nigeria (UNN), management requires the concerned candidates to:


  1. Use your university e-mail address to send an email through your head of department to the admission office for readmission.
  2. The admission officer minutes to the Registrar using the dedicated email address.
  3. The Registrar approves and sends it to the director of ICT for implementation.
  4. The ICT director forwards the request to the appropriate unit for implementation.


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Also, the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) instructs students to follow the following procedures for the deferment of admissions.


  1. The candidate must confirm his/her Admission Status and pay the acceptance fee showing evidence of having accepted the offer of admission.
  2. He/she is, therefore, expected to go through the online clearance process, up to the eligibility clearance stage to get cleared online.
  3. If cleared online, the candidate should go to the admissions office with the following documents for physical clearance: (i) A colored Print-Out of Clearance Eligibility Form with the Candidate’s “Clearance Status” boldly indicated Cleared on top of the Form (ii) Original WAEC, NECO, or NABTEB certificates. Online colored printouts will suffice where the Candidate’s Certificates are not originals/ available (iii) Coloured printout of JAMB Admission Letter (iv) Birth Certificate, but where this is not available, Statutory Declaration of Age will suffice.
  4. Candidates cleared at the Admissions Office are expected to proceed to the Bank to pay a Deferment Fee of N5,000.00 (five thousand naira only).
  5. Candidates, after payment, should submit the Bank Teller to the Bursary Department of the University and obtain a receipt.
  6. Having obtained a Receipt, the candidate should return to the admissions office with the Receipt and obtain a Deferment of Admission Form, to be duly completed by the candidate and thereafter submitted to his/ her Faculty Officer for Processing.

Similarly, there could be a deferment of admissions based on a school's recommendation. 

For instance, Osun State University recently advised a few newly admitted candidates who were below the officially recognized admission age to defer their admissions if they wouldn't consider the option to lose the offers.

There can be similar cases like this that will force a school to recommend deferment of admissions even if the affected students don't apply for it.

Sample/Template of Letter of Deferment of Admission

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State]
[Postal Code]
[Date]

[Admission Officer's Name]
[Name of Institution]
[Address of Institution]
[City, State]
[Postal Code]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing this letter to request a deferment of my admission into [Name of Institution], which was scheduled to commence in the upcoming academic session.

I was admitted to study [Name of Course] in the faculty of [Name of Faculty]. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, I will not be able to enroll for the program as planned. Specifically, I have encountered some personal challenges that require my immediate attention, and I would not be able to devote the necessary time and effort needed for my studies.

Therefore, I humbly request that my admission into the program be deferred to the next academic session, which will provide me with sufficient time to address my personal challenges and adequately prepare for my studies. I assure you that this is not a decision I have taken lightly, and I am fully committed to pursuing my studies at your esteemed institution.

Please let me know if there is any further information or documentation required to facilitate the deferral process. I would be happy to provide any additional information or documentation necessary.

Thank you for your understanding and consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

Can Application for Deferment of Admission be Rejected?

Yes. In certain cases, if you submit your deferment application, you may not meet the kind hearts of the management. 


  1. Of course, even for the schools accepting the deferments, approval is at the discretion of the authority. The fact that they approve for somebody on the health basis doesn't ascertain your own approval on the same ground.
  2. And as you must have deduced from the above, not all institutions have provisions for the deferment of admissions. Here, you won't be able to plead for academic absence on deferment.
  3. And obviously, if your basis of application is not acceptable or too weak for the approval e.g. financial reason without a clear explanation on the means to get the fund if your resume the following year.
  4. Also if you're trying to get more than one year of approval, you may not be approved as most schools won't accept deferment beyond one year.
  5. If you can't meet the financial requirements for approval. For instance, some schools will still want you to pay the acceptance fee, the school fee (sometimes), and other dues for that very year before you leave on deferment. If you can't satisfy those payments, you may be out of luck.

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7 comments:

  1. If I gain an admission at 15 is it possible to defer the admission till am 16

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am presently in 200L. I have plans of picking jamb form this year and going for my dream course. I would love to defer my present admission if I get admitted. For how long do you think I can defer my current admission?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It depends on the school's policies. More likely 1 or 2 years.

      Delete
  3. Can I still defer my admission after matrices date

    ReplyDelete
  4. Can I still defer after first semester

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good day sir, I have accepted my admission from DELSU,I have paid the acceptance fee and I'm awaiting screening.I don't know the process in deferring admission in DELSU,and I don't know if they will approve it,if I use my unstable finances as an excuse.

    ReplyDelete

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