The vanishing classroom: Attendance trends in higher education

Class attendance is a robust predictor of student success in higher education, yet systematic monitoring is limited. Drawing on 8.9 million attendance records collected over 11 years across three domains at a Dutch university, we document substantial declines in weekly attendance: from 43.0% pre-COVID to 30.6% post-COVID. More granular analyses show that attendance was already declining before COVID and keeps declining post-COVID. Given that contemporary pedagogies such as blended learning and formative assessment are dependent on physical presence for engagement and feedback, declines in attendance raise urgent questions about underlying reasons, compensatory self-study behaviors, and potential interventions.