To assist in federal financial aid compliance, final grade rosters currently require an attendance status to be recorded for each student receiving an “F” or “N” grade. With recent changes to the U.S. Department of Education’s regulations, incomplete grades will require an attendance status starting with final grades rosters at the end of the spring 2022 semester.
UNL does not require instructors to take attendance; however, the U.S. Department of Education requires that we document that financial aid recipients began attendance. Students who receive a failing or incomplete grade because they stopped attending may be considered unofficial withdrawals for financial aid purposes and UNL may be required to reduce their financial aid awards accordingly.
For these purposes, attendance is otherwise known as “academic attendance” or “attendance at an academic-related activity” and is defined in the law to include, but not be limited to the following:
- Physically attending a class where there is an opportunity for direct interaction between the instructor and students,
- Submitting an academic assignment,
- Taking an exam, an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction,
- Attending a study group that is assigned by the institution,
- Participating in an online discussion about academic matters, and
- Initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course.
Reminder: an incomplete grade should only be assigned when a student is unable to complete a course due to illness, military service, hardship, or death in the immediate family. In addition, incomplete grades should be only given if the student has already substantially completed the major requirements of the course.
An I-Form may be submitted to the Office of the University Registrar to specify the deadline for the student to complete the remaining work and the grade to be assigned if the “I” grade is not removed by this date. Otherwise, the “I” grade will be considered expired one year after the end of the term and a failing grade will be posted to the students record for the course.
On average, 29% of all incomplete grades assigned in a fall or spring semester eventually lapse to a failing or no-pass grade.