Education is no longer funded solely by our taxes. We have to pay for tuition one way or another. So why should we go to class? In-state students pay a little over $9900 per year for tuition alone. That means about $5000 per semester. If a student takes five classes per semester and the class meets three times a week, it costs around 22 dollars per class, or 332 dollars for the week. But some students like sophomore Y.B. Shim says the cost is not a big enough motivation to go to class.

“I don’t think I go to classes because I feel like I don’t get anything out of it. Some classes are active so if the professors make it active then I feel like I get something out of it. I can still study on my own and not go to class and still graduate so I don’t see going to class as obligated. So I don’t relate paying tuition with going to class.”

Students who contribute to the bills themselves feel a greater need to attend classes. Junior Genesis Cruz holds two jobs: a front desk clerk for residence hall Busey-Evans and a nanny. She works a total of 25 to 30 hours a week and pays for her own rent. Cruz says she tries not to miss more than two classes a week.

“Now you know everything’s more harder, I have more work. I’ve gotta stay focused. If I missed a class, even though I can get the notes from someone else there’s still extra stuff that I necessarily don’t know and it’s harder to get that back, so I need to stay more focused on it.”

As for out of state students, each class costs around 50 dollars and international students pay 67 dollars per class.