If life changes mid-program, can I pause?
Life doesn't pause just because a program is underway — a health scare, a caregiving need, a move, a job that suddenly demands more — and a real worry behind this question is often "if I stop, do I lose everything I've built toward this degree?
Life doesn't pause just because a program is underway — a health scare, a caregiving need, a move, a job that suddenly demands more — and a real worry behind this question is often "if I stop, do I lose everything I've built toward this degree?" You don't have to choose between finishing on the original timeline and finishing at all.
Five Branches builds real room for this into how the programs are structured:
| Program track | What "pausing" looks like | Source & when checked |
|---|---|---|
| DAcHM / MAcHM / DAc / MAc | A formal Leave of Absence, filed through the Registrar's Office | DAcHM Catalog, p.101–102 — school-published, checked 07/2026 |
| Postgraduate DAOM | Defer up to 1 year (3 trimesters) after acceptance; need longer? Re-apply under the withdrawal process for up to 5 years total from your original application date | fivebranches.edu/doctorate-ph-d/financial-aid — evergreen policy, checked 08/2026 |
| International (F-1) students, any track | Must speak with the school's International Student DSO before going on Leave of Absence — visa status has its own rules on top of the academic ones | DAcHM-MAcHM-DAc-MAc Catalog, p.101–102, and Postgraduate DAOM Catalog, p.65 — checked 07/2026 |
A few structural things worth knowing regardless of which pause you're weighing: tuition is billed per term, not upfront for the whole program, so you're never financially locked into terms you haven't reached yet. And if the disruption is serious — illness, injury, a death in the family — Financial Aid has a real appeal process for exactly that: you describe the circumstance, and the school works out an Academic Plan with you, term by term, to get back to good standing rather than simply losing your aid (fivebranches.edu/dtcm-mtcm/financial-aid/financial-aid-policies, evergreen policy).
Exact refund percentages by week, and the paperwork for a Leave of Absence, live in the Student Handbook and Enrollment Agreement — worth a direct read when you're closer to needing them, since the specifics are the kind of thing that gets updated.
What's the situation you're picturing — a temporary pause, or wondering whether part-time from the start might avoid needing one at all?
Sources
- Five Branches University — Financial Aid checked 2026-08
- Five Branches University — Financial Aid Policies checked 2026-08
- The school's own published catalog and website checked 2026-07
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