Finding the motivation to go to class is hard, but it’s important to remember that we’re all paying to be here.
When missing classes, many students consider the points they are losing as well as the material that they missed, but something a lot of students fail to consider when missing classes is the monetary loss.
The Chimes ran a series of polls on Twitter so see what students do and don’t do when it comes to classes.
According to the poll, 91 percent of students said that going to classes is important.
We also asked students about how grade penalties affect their decision to skip a class. According to the poll, 46 percent of students said they miss the max amount of classes before they receive a grade penalty. The majority of students, 54 percent, said they don’t do this.
Some professors also take participation points for each class, so we asked students if they know how many points they would lose by missing a class. According to the poll, 34 percent of students said they do know the points they give up by missing a class meeting, while 66 percent of students polled said they don’t.
In summary, Capital students think going to class is important, but nearly half of the students in the poll, 46 percent, said that they miss the maximum amount of classes before losing points for poor attendance.
Christa Serluco, associate director of the Office of Student and Community Engagement and an instructor for a UC 199 College Success Strategies class, talked about the cost of missing class and the worksheet that allows students to calculate it.
Serluco said the worksheet was created by Academic Success, but that she uses it in her classroom to put the cost of missing class in perspective.
“A lot of students are surprised to see that it’s like maybe $1,000 per class,” Serluco said.
This is a surprisingly large number for Evan King, a business major.
“Yes, I’m surprised that is cost that much [$1,000],” King said.
When it comes to the value of knowing how much it cost to miss a class, Serluco said it depends on who’s paying for your education.
“It would have some effect on them, I think is a bit harder if you’re not fronting the bill,” Serluco said.
On the other hand, King thinks knowing the cost won’t affect a student’s decisions about attending class.
“I think that people who are dead set on missing class will just miss class,” King said.
$1,218 per credit hour/ 15 weeks/ 3 classes per week = $27 or / 2 classes per week = $41
If you skip a 3 credit hour class that meets 3 times a week = $81
$36,552/year / 2 semesters /12 credit hours = $1523
It is $1,218 per credit hour if the class is 15 weeks and meets 3 times per week
The cost of missing each credit hour in this scenario $27.
