An article I read this week on usatoday.com got me thinking a lot about college attendance policies.
This article discusses how a large number of college attendance policies seem too strict, and often times inflate grades.
When asked about this topic, Sam Artley, a senior studying social relations and policy at MSU said, "There would be no need for mandatory attendance as students seeking high grades will quickly learn that they need to attend the course regularly. Inflating grades with 10-20 percent of your score coming from attendance is a poor judgement of an individual's competency in the course."
Personally, I fell that colleges should not have an attendance policy. Or if they do, it should be something along the lines of, "you are free to miss 2-3 classes before there is a penalty."
Here at Michigan State, the average student spends about $14,880 on tuition. That's a lot of money to pay to not be able to decide if you can handle skipping a class here or there.
Now don't get me wrong, my stance on college level attendance is not because I support lazy students that just don't want to go class. My stance is because I feel that college students need more self-responsibility, and understanding of choices having consequences.
Students in college are at least 18 years old and seen as legal adults, which means its times to learn that you are responsible for yourself and the decisions you make. If a student wants to skip class week after week and ultimately fail, I think colleges should let them. They are adults, they are making that choice, and they will learn that poor decisions or habits have negative consequences. The school is still getting paid whether they show up or not, so they are only hurting themselves.
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I can see why some people would be against having no attendance policy. However, having a professor lower your grade for every absence seems crazy to me. I understand that you get the most out of a course by attending regularly. However, college students shouldn't need their hands held to remind them to show up for class each week.
Osman, Rachel. "Should Class Attendance Be Mandatory? Students, Professors Say No." USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 30 June 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.
"Sample Budgets." Sample Budgets | Office of Financial Aid | Michigan State University. Michigan State University, 2016. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.
This is actually a very notable idea that I think is highly-contended among professors. I, personally, have had classes that either heavily weigh attendance into the grade or none at all. For me, I enjoy not having the responsibility of attendance, but I have learned how important it is for my success; admittedly, it is easier to get away with a spottier attendance in high school, but because collegiate studies move at such a quicker and more complex pace, it is essential to show up. Even if a student disagrees, there is still the premise that they are spending hundreds--if not thousands--of dollars per credit hour, which is a ridiculous amount to be wasting solely based on the fact that you do not feel like going to class. As much as I used to laugh at the idea of attendance's importance, I understand why professors coincide it to a student's success in their course.
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