Do you think there should be strict attendance policies for college courses?

No, ppl at this age can’t be at every class they have jobs and some have relationships.
They will need to miss more its just the way life is.

as a college student here’s my answer:
NNOOOOOO!!
i think you should be allowed to miss as much as you want. you payed for it.. and if you don’t want to show up why should anyone else care? so ridiculous. i have a teacher who actually takes attendance every single day. it bothers me so much. hes not my dad and as long as i do the work it shouldn’t matter how often i come to class.

We pay a hefty price for tuition so we should be able to show up when we please.

Let the grades be the only penalty.

Ugh no.
Things come up, hands down.

I think that students should be allowed to miss as many courses as they want. They’re paying the tuition; if they want to skip class and fail, they ought to be allowed to.

On the other hand, a student who failed because he never went to class has no right to bitch—when I was teaching, I officially had a “no more than 3 unexcused attendances” policy but I didn’t grade on them—unofficially, it was a “skip as many classes as you like” policy—but I kept attendance records, which saved my butt on every single F I gave. (“See here where it says I reserve the right to lower your letter grade by one letter for every class you miss after your 3? Well, I didn’t have to do that, because you failed every test and turned in no homework, but between that and your attendance the grade is justified.”)

That said, the policy needs to be stated on the syllabus. If the policy is strict, and you don’t drop the class, you are responsible for complying with it.

they shouldnt bother, cause if your paying for the courses already, then what difference does it make to them? they have the money already so they dont care, and taking attendance is just a waste of time, and you never know if something comes up, and if you’re just gonna skip, do you gotta phone in and excuse yourself? lol..

I’m just gonna agree with everyone else who said no.

Cwilbur nailed it.

I would like to point out that sometimes it’s possible to pass a class and not attend it. I took an upper level Linear Algebra class. I had trouble following the professor in lecture. His attendance policy was “I strongly encourage you to attend lecture.” I decided not to attend and learn the material on my own, only attending class for various tests or quizzes. I took his original syllabus and followed it on my own.

I made the highest grade in the class. [which totally pissed the prof off because he thought that if you don’t go to class there’s no way to pass]

bassist_king: ugh.. i hate attendance with a passion. if i want to skip class ill damn well skip class. and i wont even bother giving anyone an excuse. if they miss me that much during class and they honestly care where i was, they’ll ask me next time i show up.

No, except perhaps for some graduate courses

Everyone should be a free agent if he or she is signing the tuition check, but perhaps from examples here, some of you should attend more English comp. classes. (Add 75 exclamation points if you wish.)

It depends on the class, I think. My friends who are aviation majors, for example, aren’t allowed to miss a single class. Obviously, if they miss the “how to land the airplane” class, a lot of people will be in trouble. A lot of my business classes have strict attendance policies because they are trying to prepare students for the real world, where skipping a day of work won’t look so good on a performance review. Overall, I’m alright with most attendance policies (strict or lax) as long as they have good reason to exist and those reasons are explained by the teacher.

My school actually has a strict attendance policy. If we are absent more then once our grade drops so your second absence the highest you can get is a B our 3rd absence highest you can get is a C and so on… more then 5 absences and you cannot pass the course.

no. my school has this policy and i’m being forced to drop out of two classes for health reasons that keep me from going to class. my only option at this point is online classes. it’s so unfair! i would be perfectly fine reading the textbook material and coming in for tests. i feel that a lot of the time sitting in class is a waste of time if i can learn the material on my own.

@arien_ellariel : If you don’t need teachers or interaction from other students, try home schooling if you are having health problems. Or take the GED’s.

@gailcalled: i don’t think you can homeschool for college, though i was homeschooled all through grade school. i might have considered something like that if i could get a real degree but as i’m almost done at the college i’m attending, i think i’ll just try to make due.

for basic classes like psychology and trig. i don’t have too much trouble learning the material on my own.

@arien_ellariel: Do you expect your health to improve soon? Do you have to pay for the classes you drop? Hope you feel better.

@gailcalled: i hope so. i just have to see the right specialists now that i have an idea of what’s wrong. i may have to refund some scholarship money, but no permanent damage. and thanks. :)