A mandatory attendance policy does not really enhance students' school performance as it's usually expected. Having an optional attendance policy would enable students to get the most out of their time and their education. Attending class regularly does not mean students will have better understanding or performance. Some students sometimes miss class, but they still study well. However, they have to come to class, or their grade would be decreased due to poor attendance. How can teachers put knowledge into the heads of these students? They sit in class, but they feel very distracted. They even disturb other students who are paying attention to the lessons. Does it worsen the situation? If teachers let such students choose whether to attend class or not, maybe the class environment would be better. In the classroom students raise ideas and ask questions about what they are still unclear about after reading assigned books or doing homework. It's not the place where those who lack interest are forced to listen to what they do not like. For this reason, students should be given right to decide whether to attend class or not. A mandatory attendance policy discourages independent thinking, self-discipline, and self-study. Students are adults. Adult students can decide what is best for them. With younger students this policy is necessary for many reasons such as safety reasons. However, adult students cannot be forced to do what they don’t want to do. That will form in them a habit of dependence on another person's wish and thinking. In other words, if students are forced to go to school regularly, their rights to make decisions are being violated. That will soon turn them into people lacking of self-discipline. An optional attendance policy means educational opportunity. For example, in a distance learning class, students can earn a degree from some college that they earlier could not have attended due to many reasons (for example: that college is in a foreign country and the student cannot afford enough money to study there). The difference here is that the student does not have to attend the real class because everything including the schedule, books, materials, and lectures are available on the internet. In fact, a distance learning course is a good example of optional attendance policy. Then as one can see, the result is obviously good. The student can study something he likes that seems impossible to study if there is a strict attendance policy. Education is like business. Students pay tuition to get knowledge from teachers. Compared with business, students are customers, and teachers are suppliers. Then students must be free to choose what they want to "buy." In other words, they must be free to study what they feel necessary and not study what they do not like or need. Do people buy something that they don’t need? Usually, customers are not forced to buy goods they do not need, so students should not be forced to study what they do not need or like. As adults, students should be able to make decisions by themselves and learn from what they decide. In other words, students should take responsibility for decisions such as missing a class. It really limits students’ opportunities to say that all students of my class have to attend at least 80 percent of all class times or they will fail. An optional policy is necessary to open the college's door to everyone.