Procedure 4.16.01

Part 1. Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to define the process for reporting changes in enrollment that meets the federal regulations 34 CFR 668.22 – Treatment of Title IV Funds, for institutions that administer federal financial aid. Instructors must report Last Date of Attendance (LDA) information for students who: 

1. Never attended, or
2. Who stopped attending but did not withdraw from the course during the semester or term.

Part 2. Definitions

Attendance and academic engagement: See definition in of Attendance in College Policy 4.16.

Course Session: A course session is the span of time between the first and last day of a designated period during which a course is scheduled to take place.

Never Attended (NA): A specific grade used by the college to report students enrolled in their courses that have not engaged in any academic activity during the course. Excluded from GPA calculation.

Never Withdrew (NW): A specific grade used by the college to report students who stopped engaging in academic activities prior to the end of the course. Excluded from GPA calculation.

Part 3. Responsibilities

Subpart A. Students

A student who stops participating in one or more of their courses must immediately withdraw from the respective course(s) and is responsible for understanding the impact of such action on their student account. If it is determined that a student received financial aid for one or more courses the student did not attend, or if a student stops attending the course(s) prior to earning their full financial aid, the student’s financial aid will be recalculated based on federal and state financial aid regulations. The recalculated financial aid may result in the student owing the college money for unearned financial aid.

Subpart B. Faculty/Instructors

Faculty/Instructors are responsible for recording the LDA for courses they are teaching at the administratively required reporting dates, which will be communicated to faculty each semester.

Part 4. Procedures for Faculty to Report Last Date of Attendance

Subpart A. Never Attended

Faculty must submit a “Never Attended” report in the college grading system for any student enrolled in a course who failed to engage in any academic activities by the first administratively required reporting date of the course session. This “Never Attended” report will result in the student receiving an “NA” grade for the course, and they will be withdrawn from the course. If the student receives “NA” grades for all of the courses they are enrolled in for a semester the student will be dropped from the courses.

In such cases:

• The courses will not appear on their transcript, and
• The tuition and fees for the courses will be refunded.

Subpart B. Partially Attended, but Never Withdrew

Faculty must submit a “Partially Attended” report in the college grading system for students who have ceased demonstrating academic engagement in a course. This Partially Attended report will result in the student receiving an “NW” grade for the course, and they will be withdrawn  from the course.

Faculty are expected to file “Partially Attended” reports at minimum, during the academic term’s administratively required reporting dates. More frequent reporting may be required for certain student populations including veterans, international students, and high school students taking Minneapolis College courses through the Post Secondary Enrollment Options program. 

Part 5. Use of “NC” and “F” Grades

Faculty should use grades of “NC” or “F” only in cases where the student was still participating in the course at the time of the withdraw deadline for the course, which is listed on the course schedule. If the student was not participating as of the withdraw deadline, faculty should use the “Never Attended” or “Partially Attended” procedure so that the student can be academically withdrawn. 

To enable the College to meet federal reporting requirements, the Financial Aid Office may reach out to faculty for the last dates of attendance when needed. Faculty are expected to respond with the information needed promptly.

Part 6. Readmissions Procedure

A student who has been removed from a course through the LDA process may request re-entry into the course by contacting the faculty member. Readmission to the course is not guaranteed and is at the faculty member’s discretion.  A readmitted student who is withdrawn through the LDA process a second time due to nonparticipation will not be readmitted to the course.

Owner(s) Title: Vice President of Student Affairs

Date of Adoption: 11/21/2019

Date of Implementation (if different from adoption date): Revisions approved 7/9/2025 are effective at the start of Fall semester 2026. Revisions approved on 11/21/2019 were effective 1/13/2020.

Date Last Reviewed: 7/9/2025 (Comprehensive Review) 

History and Subject of Revisions:7/9/2025 (Comprehensive Review. Added section on “Responsibilities”; revised the definition of attendance to conform with the federal definition of academic engagement to include "interacting with an instructor about an academic matter”; removed the timelines for reporting LDAs as this will be communicated administratively and will depend on the length of the course; removed language saying faculty must record last date of attendance when reporting grades of F and NC to recognize these dates are auto-populated in ISRS with the last date of the course; clarifies that faculty shouldn’t use F or NC grade if the student stopped participating on or before the withdraw deadline. These changes go into effect in Fall 2025. 8/14/2024 (Focused Review. Reduced time faculty have to report LDAs from 14 days to 10 days after the student non-participation window has elapsed. Changes grade for LDAs to “NA” for Never Attended and “NW” for Never Withdrew rather than “W.” Added requirement that faculty report a student’s last date of attendance whenever they issue an “NC” or “F” grade. Changed from marking time in weeks and days to marking time in a commensurate amount of business days to add clarity and consistency. Established the withdrawal deadline as the last time faculty should be submitting an LDA grade.), 2/29/2023 (Limited Review), 11/21/2019 (Adopted)

Regulatory Authority (e.g. Minnesota State policy, federal or state law):  Code of Federal Regulations: 34 CFR 668.22 – Treatment of Title IV Funds