Oracle Online

Many classes at private universities have required attendance policies that carry grade deductions for multiple absences, and the reasons are reasonable and common-sensical. Even students who struggle to get to early-morning classes realize the function of these popular policies and can justify their continuance.

Compelling students to attend all classes teaches responsibility and prepares them to establish a professional schedule for the real world and the workplace. However, not only will students master the art of sleep deprivation as they move into careers and even more rigid schedules, but many students have already encountered the necessities of punctuality and presence in the jobs they must take on to afford college and living expenses.

Hamline undergrads lament the amount of money spent each year on their education, and some accordingly justify attendance policies with the reasoning that missing a class is a waste of money. A legitimate argument, though it seems as if paying over $30,000 should buy me the freedom to miss a class now and then without having my grade suffer for accidentally shutting off the 6:45 a.m. alarm while in a sleepy stupor. One need not pay tens of thousands of dollars in order to be weighed down by more rules with consequences affecting GPA’s. The student who recognizes the financial and educational benefit of each class can still maintain their value by attending them.

There is the possibility that classrooms would be mostly vacant if required attendance were abandoned, but I extend my most heartfelt gratitude for the professors who set up random quizzes and graded class exercises that motivate students to show up. This way, we are receiving credit for thinking and doing our homework the night before instead of just for our mere glowing presence at 8:00 in the morning.