The Pay-Per-Class™ System: A Proposition
I have three classes that have attendance policies. In each class, I am allowed to miss two classes without excuses. Every unexcused absence after then will result in a certain amount of points being taken off my grade. This is bull.
Let’s say that you buy season tickets for your favorite baseball team. On Opening Day, you, along with every other season ticket holder, receives a syllabus that in part describes the team’s attendance policy. “You are allowed to miss two games per season,” it states, “after which you will be charged $5 per unexcused absence.” Would you stand for this? No, of course not, because you payed for those tickets, and attend or not, the team still gets your money.
So why are there these attendance policies in universities. I already gave them my money. The teacher is not losing salary if I don’t show. It’s my choice, so why should I be punished automatically of that choice? If I fail the class, that’s my fault. Miami University says that the purpose of attendance policies is to ensure that students do not skip classes, fall behind, and fail. Well isn’t that considerate of them? Most college students should be responsible enough to make that decision on their own.
That’s why I propose the Pay-Per-Class™ system. Under that system, every student would be required to swipe their ID every time they attend class. At the end of the semester, the university would refund students for the classes that they did not attend. That way, if I have an easy class (like PHY111) that I can still get a good grade in without attending class, then I just got a great deal. On the other hand, if I skip class a lot and consequently fail the class, at least I didn’t waste a lot of money on it.
I know what you’re thinking. “But Myles, won’t that cause the university to lose a lot of money?” Well maybe at first, but in the long run, I think that it will force the university and professors to create better classes, which will draw more students to the university, and those students will regularly attend class because it’s valuable. And isn’t that what we should be paying for? A good education?
What do you think?
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