Attendance Matters is an NIU initiative to help students understand the importance of regular attendance and their college success. Sometimes students run into legitimate problems that affect attendance. However, you may not realize that federal financial aid can be reduced or canceled if you withdraw from or fail a class that you have never attended. If you are having problems or an illness that is affecting your ability to attend class, ask for help from your teacher or counselor. They may have options to help you!
Pell Attendance Requirement
Federal regulations require that you begin attendance in each class you are enrolled in for purposes of the Federal Pell Grant program. If you don’t begin attendance in all of the classes in which you are enrolled, your Federal Pell Grant may be reduced.
Attendance Verification
If you withdraw from or fail a class, the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office will review Blackboard to verify your attendance. If we can’t confirm your attendance in Blackboard, we’ll contact your instructor.
Some activities that count as attendance are:
- Attending a class in person and confirmed by the instructor
- Turning in an assignment and receiving a grade.
- Completing an exam.
- Participating in an online tutorial or discussion.
Some activities that do not count as attendance are:
- Downloading course material.
- Participating in academic advising.
- Logging in to a course without actively participating.
Stopping Attendance
If you no longer wish to attend any or all of your courses, you need to follow the withdrawal procedures. There are different kinds of academic withdrawal. You can request a course withdrawal when you want to stop attending one course or a semester withdrawal to be removed from all of your courses. Before you start the withdrawal process, you should understand how your financial aid may be affected.
If you withdraw from a course or courses, you may:
- Have a reduction in your financial aid.
- Need to return some of the financial aid you already received.
- Be required to start making student loan payments.
If you stop attending one or more classes without following the withdrawal procedures, this is called an unofficial withdrawal. Unofficial withdrawal means that you will not qualify for any reduction in your charges and your financial aid may be reduced.
View the full withdrawal policy.
Contact Us
If you have questions about the impact that a course or semester withdrawal will have on your financial aid eligibility, please contact us at finaid@niu.edu or 815-753-1395.