Ej Arcilla, a junior health administration major, skips class when she knows boredom and fatigue will take over.
“If you’re going to pay attention in class, then go, but if you’re not, then there’s no point,” Arcilla said.
However, according to Vice Provost for Planning and Budgets David Dowell, Arcilla and other students who skip class pay a price for missing lectures.
Dowell said that a student wastes an average of $26 each time he or she cuts class. The amount was calculated from a total cost of attendance of $3,120 per semester, based upon the 12.16 units the average student takes per semester.
According to Dowell, the $26 is only a portion of the loss, as missing class can lead to failing courses and ultimately delay graduation.
However, some students said they feel that sleep or catch-up time is worth the money loss.
“I know that it costs money, but sometimes I’m just insanely tired,” Jake Skoll, a sophomore kinesiology major, said. “Some [students] cut just because they’re lazy or they’re ahead.”
Monique Sypkens, a sophomore theatre major, said that the degree isn’t worth the $26 per class.
“I learn from the community of the classroom environment,” Sypkens said. “That would be the only reason it’s worth the money.”
CSULB design professor Michael Laforte said students earn what they put into their education.
“That $26 is just the superficial cost,” Laforte said. “That value is easy to crunch. It’s the fuzzier number that’s real.”
Laforte said that the real costs of cutting class are intangible, such as delaying joining the workforce, loss of income, related expenses and, most importantly, time.
He said that being a part of the “dynamic of the class” is a part of the whole university experience, and students who cut class miss out on this vital component of education.
“You come to a university to be a deeper person,” Laforte said. “Today, the depth of the value of what a university is about is lacking.”
Desiree Mendoza, a freshman history major, said that students should take advantage of their university classes and experiences, because they are paying for a seat in the classroom that could be better appreciated by another student.
“All the money that we put in benefits us eventually,” Mendoza said, “so we are better prepared as well-rounded individuals.”