An empty seat among a sea of faces or a disapproving look from one's professor are about the only repercussions of skipping a college class. There are no detentions, no extra homework assignments, and no meetings with the teacher or the assistant principle for one missed class. When the immediate ramifications are negligible, students find several reasons for cutting class.
For some, cutting class is a win-win situation - it means more free time and little, if any punishment. And with notes available online and huge lectures lending to anonymity, the opportunities are considerable. Is there a cost?
Monetarily, yes. The average tuition per semester at Tufts is $17,000. In a single semester, the typical student attends four classes an average of three times per week - with 15 weeks in a semester, this tuition averages out to about $95 per class. Of course, tuition is funneled elsewhere, but cutting classes nonetheless does not come cheap.
The economics, in fact, keep many students from cutting.
"I try not to cut class because I feel like I am wasting my parents' money," freshman Erin Zuena said. "It's hard, though, because some of my classes are very pointless to go to."
Even students not deterred by the costly numbers are amazed. When told the potential cost of classes, freshman Hollen Spatz said she felt guilty. "I probably throw out at least 200 dollars a week," she said.
Spatz said her time commitment to the swimming team and other activities sometimes keep her from class. "I'm too tired and have too much other stuff to do and not enough time," she said.
Time and money aside, some students say they skip class simply because attendance does not affect their grade or professors make it easy to learn the material outside the classroom.
Sophomore Lex Margolin found it difficult to attend an astronomy class due to the feasibility of learning the material outside of class.
"I never went to astro because it didn't change my grade at all," she said. "I just handed in the assignments because they were usually straight from the textbook."
She added that she cut because classes were early and far from her dorm. "And because I could, basically."
Early into this semester, freshman Sangeeta Parekh realized the benefits of online notes in a class she is taking. "For one of my classes this semester, there were days when I just didn't feel like going to class," she said. "And I feel less bad about cutting because the professor puts the notes on the Internet."
With that kind of convenience, students pressed for time often can't resist cutting class. For some, when time runs thin, classes are among the first things to go from their busy schedule.
Freshman Seth Baron says he tries hard to attend all of his classes.
"I don't really cut classes," he said. "But when I do it's usually for a reason, like a lot of work in other classes or that I'm sick."
Those students who resist cutting class say their learning style necessitates attendance. Sophomore Elyssa Rosenberg tries to attend most of her classes because that's how she feels she can learn the course material best.
"I learn better by instruction," Rosenberg said.
Students, of course, are not the only ones affected by truancy. Professors, who of course can't so easily cut out of class, often resent absences. And many take steps to prevent them.
At the beginning of the semester, many professors stress class attendance by factoring participation into grading and saying students who skip class do poorly on exams. Many students say this correlation is one the strongest reasons they attend classes, money matters aside.
Regardless of student motivations, some departments - particularly those which offer many small classes - do more to enforce attendance. Professor Agnes Trichard-Arany of the French Department has little to worry about when it comes to cuts, because only three are acceptable in foreign language classes, and both the students and the departments watch attendance closely.
"It's compulsory - students are supposed to come," she said. "I think because I check on presence, students know that it's going to affect their final grade if they miss more than three classes."
