Trust Students to be Adults: The Problem With Mandatory Attendance

Attendance policies raise fundamental questions about the purpose of a college education: What should lectures accomplish? What are the respective responsibilities of students and professors? And how should those responsibilities interact? 

Mandatory attendance policies are difficult to justify in light of these questions. 

In general, courses can be divided into two categories, each with a different educational purpose. The first aims to transmit as much information as possible that students then learn to apply in new contexts. With these courses, attendance should seemingly not be required because class is ancillary to the numerous resources available outside the classroom. Simply sitting through a lecture is not an achievement, and as Ari Webb wrote in a 2021 Stanford Review article: “Even a baby can sit in a lecture. Why should a Stanford University student be awarded credit for doing something a baby can do?”

The second category is more complicated. In these courses, the primary educational value lies in the classroom experience itself: interactions between students, debate and the exchange of ideas. Many professors would argue that their courses fall in this category and might sensibly utilize a mandatory attendance policy because attendance is a crucial part of what they’re offering. However, there is a difference between demonstrating the value of attendance and forcing it under the threat of a lower grade. Professors should encourage their students to recognize the value of their education in the classroom while allowing them to decide how to best engage with the material. In fact, a discretionary policy could actually increase the quality of such classes: Discussions would be far more productive rather than being diluted in a classroom of people who are present only because their grades depend on it. In this sense, a mandatory attendance policy penalizes the students looking to gain from what the instructor is offering. 

Perhaps the biggest issue is that a mandatory attendance policy can feel condescending. We are college students, young adults who are trusted, or at the very least allowed, to make decisions about careers, finances and religion. And yet we are not trusted with our own time despite the fact that time management is a fundamental skill that many of us have been developing since high school and continue to develop in college. If professors or the university feel that students are incapable of managing their own time, they should reconsider what skills they are actually imparting to their students. 

Attendance policies also do not account for the many circumstances that affect students’ lives outside the classroom. While professors may excuse absences related to illness or other circumstances they consider legitimate, requiring students to justify their decisions seems patronizing. If a student continues to submit high-quality work, or perhaps even participate in a majority of classes, the need to justify absences should be unnecessary. 

This is not an argument against attending class. Quite the opposite: Classroom learning can be invaluable, and students should take advantage of the opportunities their professors offer. At the same time, professors should strive to cultivate environments where students don’t show up just for the grade, but because they want to contribute in discussions and debates, share their thoughts and learn from their peers. 

Photo caption: Classroom on Beren

Photo credit: YU Flickr