Question about athletes returning to school

When a player is considering leavign early one of the justifications we always here is that you can always come back and finish your degree later. Apparently Nieuwendyk did this. I was wondering if anyone knows/can explain hwo this actually works at Cornell. If you leave school before graduating do you have an unlimited "right" to come back and finish your degree later (I assume that the rules would apply to athletes and non-athletes equally). Is there a time limit on this?

What about limits on how long you've actually been at Cornell before leaving? Lets say for the sake of argument that Riley Nash decided in September (before he's ever completed a credit) that he wanted to go play in the CHL instead. Would he be free to come back to Cornell at any time later?

Just curious. The Nash thread got me wondering.

I don't think that, as a general rule, the person means "I can come back to the school I am leaving and finish my degree," only that college will always be there.

That doesn't answer your question, though.

I get the impression each college might have its own procedure but here is a page from the Ag School
[www.cals.cornell.edu]

Seems like if you are in good academic standing you can petition for a non-restricted leave of absence which allows you to return without any reapplication. No mentions of time limits to return to school or how long you attended.

This page on Art and Sciences says you must return with five years.
[www.arts.cornell.edu]

I'm guessing when you're Joe Nieuwendyk you can do whatever you want.

CALS seems to have a lotta leeway:

[cornell-magazine.cornell.edu] (check 2nd story down)

I've heard from friends many times that all that matters is that you leave in good academic standing, which just comes down to notifying the powers that be that you intend to take time off, as opposed to just dropping out in the middle of a semester without saying a word.