Whether attending classes should be mandatory for university students is a controversial topic for students, teachers, and school administrators. Many people support compulsory attendance as a vital part of academic success. Others, however, advocate for more flexibility for both practical and educational reasons. I think that making class attendance optional has several benefits that make it ultimately a better policy.

One reason for why I believe attendance should be optional is that doing so could actually enhance student academic achievement. As long as a student is able to demonstrate understanding of the course material through homework assignments, reports, and exams, then the student should be free to use what would have been time in the class to instead study more challenging material from other more difficult classes. Using the additional time this way could thus enhance the student’s overall academic performance.

Another reason for not making class attendance required is because people may have family responsibilities to juggle. A student may need to look after a chronically ill parent or a child. If there is a scheduling conflict between these obligations and the class time, then the student may not even be able to take the course. This could greatly limit a student’s ability to take the necessary courses to complete the desired degree, or at least delay degree completion until the course is available during days and times that are compatible with the student’s schedule. In contrast, having optional class attendance can enable students to meet familial obligations and complete their degrees.

Similarly, I think it is important to consider that a student might have to work in order to afford to go to university at all. If class attendance is mandatory, many students may be denied a higher education because they cannot pay for it without also having a job at the same time, and work hours for the job may conflict with the class schedule. This state of affairs can prevent people from achieving upward economic mobility. Instead they may remain stuck in lower paying jobs and never be able to receive the education needed to gain higher paying jobs. If such people then have children, then the children as young adults would face the same dilemma. The young adults would have parents who cannot cover all the costs of education so that the young adults would have to work, but their job schedules may conflict with course schedules. Thus a mandatory attendance policy could perpetuate intergenerational inequalities between economic classes of people. By instead making attendance optional, students from low-income households have an opportunity to break this cycle and create better lives for themselves and their children.

In summary, there are some very important positive consequences that come with not requiring students to attend classes. These benefits should be seriously considered to inform university class attendance policy so that it is not overly rigid and can rather support student success.