It’s 8:10AM on a Monday morning. Class starts in 20 minutes and I just don’t want to get out of bed and go, so I decide to roll over and catch a few extra hours of sleep. Little do I know that not only could I miss something potentially important in class, but also my two extra hours of sleep just cost me money.
It goes without saying that people should go to class. Even those boring morning Math lectures should be attended regularly. Statistically, students who go to class always do better than their sleeping counterparts. When you’re actually in class, absorbing the information, you can remember more, and have a better understanding of the topics. Heck, even if you are just a warm body (meaning you’re physically there, but mentally you’re thinking about what you’re going to do on Friday, or last week’s football game), you are still learning more than the person at home in bed. But this isn’t about the academics of it. Not only are you jeopardizing your grade, but your wasting valuable dollars.
Universities charge for tuition (duh). The costs go for facilities, professor salaries, and much more. So when you take a class, that specific class is a percentage of that tuition. If you have 4 classes, it’s 25%, and so on. So, let’s say student John E. Lazy is going to the local state school. Tuition per quarter is about $4,000 USD. John E. Lazy has enrolled in 4 classes. Therefore, each class is roughly costing Mr. Lazy $1,000 USD. Let’s say this one specific class (Biology 101 for example), meets twice a week for two hours. If the quarter lasts ten weeks, then John E. has about 20 classes, or 40 hours. That means, if he skips one class, it will cost him $50. That’s an expensive nap! Also, we aren’t even calculating the books he bought for the class. This is a very simple example, but it illustrates an important point: You (or your parents) are paying for school, it is not free. Public high schools are free, so if someone skips a class, it’s not directly costing them money (maybe through taxes, but we won’t get into that here). When it comes to post secondary, it is a privilege, not a right. What does the local University care if you don’t go to class? They just got 4,000 dollars for a student who’s only going to be using 2,000 worth of resources (assuming you attend half the classes).
This isn’t meant to be preachy, and I’ll be the first to admit I’ve skipped my fair share of classes. But after truly considering how much it was costing me to catch those extra few hours of sleep, and what it was doing to my grades, I started to rethink it a little. I’m determined to get my degree, and I hope I do so successfully and maybe even learn something new. In order to make the most of it, going to class is a must.
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June 11 2007 11:03 am | Financial Advice
2 Responses to “Go to Class, Your Wallet and G.P.A. Will Thank You”
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David on 22 Nov 2007 at 11:37 pm #
While I agree that going to class is important, much of the logic behind your argument is faulty. You have already paid for Biology class, and that money is gone whether you go or not. So not going doesn’t really “cost” you $50. It’s a sunk cost either way. Really, the question you need to answer is “what can I do right now that will provide me with the most benefit.” Of course, usually the answer is attending class.
Scott on 23 Nov 2007 at 12:59 am #
I agree, it’s a sunk cost either way, there’s no one sitting there collecting $50. I guess I should say then your wasting money. Because, since you are paying for an education, and you’re electing not to receive it, then you’re paying for a product you aren’t taking advantage of, which is a cost…without any of the revenue, therefore you’re coming out negative. Kind of a convoluted business argument, but I think we can both agree that class isn’t cheap. Thanks for your comment!