Attendance Policies

Attendance is defined as being present for the regularly scheduled class during the regularly scheduled hours. Attendance is not a component of course grades. However, the school expects students to attend all scheduled classes. Students may not be able to maintain their visa status if they have poor attendance and repeated lateness.

Attendance is closely monitored and is recorded daily. PELI requires all F-1 students to maintain a minimum of 80% attendance throughout the semester. Failure to do so will result in termination of F-1 visa.

Late arrival, late return from breaks, and/or early departure all impact daily attendance and contribute to the attendance rate recorded by the instructor. 

There is a grace period of 10 minutes for late arrivals. After 10 minutes, a student will be marked “Late”. After 30 minutes, a student will be marked “Absent”. If a student receives 4 “Late” marks, it is equivalent to an “Absent” mark and will contribute to the student’s overall attendance rate. 

This policy also applies for early departures. (A student leaving 30 minutes early from class will also be marked as “Absent”).

All F-1 students must maintain a minimum of 80% attendance throughout the semester. If students fall below 80%, they will be terminated from the course and will no longer be in status.

Students will be given several written warnings before reaching an attendance rate that would result in termination. Accumulation of lateness counts towards attendance rates. Attendance warnings will be sent as follows:

• After 5 absences: first warning
• After 10 absences: second warning
• After 12 absences: final warning

If a student has more than 12 absences, they will be terminated from the program. Students can login to their Classe365 profile to check their attendance at any time.

Additionally, if a student misses 10 consecutive class days without any notice to their instructor or to PELI administration, they will automatically be terminated from the program. Students can make an appeal within 5 days of receiving notice of termination.

Students have the right to appeal an attendance termination if they feel that their situations merit individual attention due to unusual circumstances and contributed to their attendance issues. The students who wish to appeal must write to the Program Director stating the reason for the appeal prior to the start of the next course. The written appeal must be received within 3 business days of the notification of termination. The letter must state the following:

• The unusual circumstances the student feels caused the failure.
• What she or he has done or plans to do to alleviate the problems she or he had in attendance.

The Program Director may request additional information or documentation in support of the student’s appeal of the termination. The appeal will be reviewed by the Program Director, an Academic Coordinator, and the student’s instructor. If the Violation Decision is upheld, an F-1 student will have fifteen (15) days from the date of notification to transfer to another institution or be terminated from PELI and in SEVIS. 

In the event of an absence, students should see their instructors for missed assignments. It is a student’s responsibility to make up for all missed work. 

Students have up to a week from a missed test date to make up the grade or they will receive a 0. Students must meet with the teacher to schedule a time outside of class to make up the test. 

If a student wants to make up for the class time they missed during an absence (and thereby improve their attendance rate), students can request private tutoring. Tutoring rates for make-up classes follow the same rate as specified above and are offered based on teacher availability. (See Tutoring Services) To recover one missed class day (1 absence) students must complete 2 hours of tutoring.

After the first attendance warning, students are limited to recover 2 absences through tutoring. After the second attendance warning, students are limited to recover 4 absences through tutoring. By the final attendance warning, students are not eligible to recover any absences.