If you want to interrupt your studies for two or more accademic years, for personal reasons other than those provided for career freeze, it is sufficient not to pay the first installment of the fees, without having to communicate it to the Career Office.

We remind you that, according to current regulations, double enrollment in university courses is allowed. See information on the dedicated page.

WARNING: For the academic years of interruption, you cannot perform career-related activities (attend courses, take exams, etc.); to avoid forfeitur from studies, read the information on this page. It is advisable to request the ISEE for each year of interruption as it may affect the calculation of the amount of fees to be paid at the time of resuming studies, as specified in the Fee Notice.

If you wish to withdraw from your academic studies and stop paying your University fees (even those already due), please submit a withdrawal application. 

You can submit your application at any time of the year.

1.    Log in to the online Student Academic Services (Esse3). From the menu, select Home>Withdrawal application and follow the step-by-step procedure. If you don’t remember your login details (User ID and/or password), please visit the University of Trieste password recovery webpage.
2.    Submit your withdrawal application.
3.    Go to the ‘Payments’ section of the online Student Academic Services (Esse3) and pay the stamp duty which you will be invoiced for during the withdrawal procedure. Only after payment will the Office for Academic Services consider your application and approve your withdrawal request. 
4.    When your withdrawal request has been approved, you’ll receive a confirmation email.
You do not need to return your student's record book or student card.

After withdrawing from your studies:
•    you will forfeit any right to a fee reimbursement;
•    if you are a non-EU citizen, your resident permit for study purposes will be revoked. In order to re-enrol you will have to contact the International Student Services;
•    if you were granted any benefits from ARDiS, remember to seek out information about whether these may also be revoked. 
•    you must return any books or other material you took from the University Library Services.
•    you will be able to obtain a declaration with the date of your withdrawal and the list of any exams you have passed from the online Student Academic Services (Esse3);
 

If you wish to attend:

• a course of study at a foreign university
• a military academy
• a specialization school, a Ph.D., or a university master's program activated at this or another university
• a T.F.A. (Training for Teaching Activities) internship activated at this or another university

you can suspend your studies: fill out the form and send it to the Student Career Office of your course of study. You will be notified as soon as the virtual stamp duty is issued, available on your Esse3 Online Services. Notify the Career Office once the payment has been made so that the procedure can be completed properly.

You must return the borrowed bibliographic material from the university libraries.

At the time of suspension, you must be up to date with the taxes and fees due up to the previous academic year, and you must not pay the first installment of the fees for the current academic year (it is non-refundable): only if you have already paid it and submit the application after the deadline for subsequent installments, you will also have to pay these.

To resume your studies after the suspension, please read the information page on Resuming Studies.

Forfeiture of studies

Forfeiture of studies constitutes an end to a student’s studies and therefore a loss of student status. 

If a student does not take exams for a certain period of time, they will be considered to have forfeited their studies automatically, even if they have paid their fees regularly.

This is not the case if a student has taken all the exams in their study programme.

Forfeiture of studies must be assessed by UniTS Academic Services, as different terms and conditions may apply depending on the situation and the legislation in force. 

When more than one outcome is possible, UniTS will always choose the most favourable outcome for the student.

WHAT’S NEW?

• If conditions for forfeiture are met in academic year 2023-2024 or later, the previous 10 years are taken into consideration. 
• In case of degree courses qualifying for a profession (e.g. health professions, pharmacy/PCT and psychology), 8 academic years will be taken into consideration.

Following the entry into force of Italian Decree Law No 202 of 27 December 2024, converted into Law No 15 of 21 February 2025, the following dispositions were repealed.

• For students enrolled during or after academic year 2011-2012:
  students automatically forfeit their studies if they do not acquire any credits for five consecutive academic years (unless their degree course's regulation provided for exceptions to this rule).
• For students enrolled before or during academic year 2010-2011:
  students automatically forfeit studies if they have not taken an exam for eight academic years  (regardless of whether they pass or fail). 

After forfeiture of studies:

• You can request a reimbursement of any fees paid after your forfeiture of studies; (CHECK)  
• you can download a certificate with details of your exam record from the online Student Academic Services (Esse3);
• you can re-enrol and apply for advanced standing (recognition of exams taken in the past). Learn more on the Evaluation after withdrawal from studies or forfeiture of studies page. Students who have forfeited their studies are not subsequently eligible for fee waivers on the basis of merit.

For an accurate assessment of your situation, please contact the section of the Academic Services in charge of your degree course.