Many college professors implement an attendance policy that penalizes students for excessive absence. For instance, Northern Illinois University mandates that if a student misses more than four classes in a course that meets three times weekly, the professor must lower that student's grade by one letter grade. Northern Illinois recommends increased action for even further absences. A differing version of this policy appears at South Seattle Community College, which recommends that professors not decrease a student's grade if the student misses less than 20 percent of the semester's meetings. This type of policy possesses clear advantages by not only ensuring classroom attendance, but by making it very clear to the students what will happen if they skip class excessively.
Many colleges don't use a university-wide attendance policy and leave it up to the discretion of each professor, who then may not require any attendance whatsoever. For instance, the University of Maryland's policy states that students are excused from attending class in cases of emergency or illness or when observing a religious holiday. However, Maryland does not then insist upon attendance otherwise, nor do they attach any penalties to a student's frequent absence. Moreover, Maryland does not require that any professor create his or her own attendance policy for the students enrolled in each professor's class. Those who favor this model argue that it enables each professor to set attendance policies in accordance with his or her teaching style and philosophy of education while also treating students as rational agents capable of deciding whether or not attending class will benefit them.
Some college professors and colleges follow the "not required, but explicit" attendance policy model. In these cases, the professor makes it very clear that students should attend all class meetings, but the professor does not assign any penalty for excessive absences. For instance, Broward College suggests that each professor create an attendance policy, but does not insist on a particular model or any penalties. The virtues of this model include treating students as consumers of education rather than school children by letting them know that the professor holds classroom attendance in the student's best interest and will do his or her best to provide quality instruction for those who attend.