Recording Student Non Attendance
Using the FN Grade
In compliance with University Faculty Council Policy
(FN Non-Attendance; March 1999), faculty members are
required to differentiate students who fail a class
because they quit attending from those who failed the
class based on merit. This policy was implemented in
response to a federal mandate to track and monitor the
attendance of financial aid recipients. The FN grade
(Failure-Non attendance) and last known date of
attendance is used to identify these students.
Adhering to this policy and reporting the last known
date of attendance is critical to avoid potential
financial liability for the institution.
In addition, FN grade date is often useful in
arbitrating cases when students believe that they had
completed the process to drop a course.
- Federal Student Aid funds are awarded to a
student under the assumption that the student will
attend school at that award level (number of credit
hours) for the entire period.
- When a student drops a class after the semester
has started, the appropriate amount of federal
grants and loans for which the student is eligible
must be determined.
- It is necessary to determine the point in time
that the student withdrew to make the correct
calculation.
- For the student who stops attending a class, but
does not complete the process to officially drop it,
the last known date of attendance that is reported
with the FN grade is used by the Office of Student
Financial Aid Services to recalculate the financial
aid awards. (This is a federal requirement.)
- These calculations on the appropriate amount of
aid earned by a student are audited by the Indiana
State Board of Accounts and non-compliance is
reported to the U.S. Department of Education.
- Failure to monitor and report last known date of
attendance and to accurately return the correct
amount of financial aid places the campus at risk
for substantive penalties.
