In 2007, a total of 15.6 million undergraduate college students attended school in search of a higher level of education ("How many?"). In the spring of 2013, only 14,473,884 students attended an American college or university, a decrease of 1,126,116 students from 2007 ("College Enrollment"). One reason for the decline is that some students have no after-school plan, unlike most student-athletes. It is often said that education should come before anything else, one example is athletics. Therefore, when discussing whether or not college student-athletes should be exempt from class attendance policies to participate in sports-related activities such as practices, meetings and games, the immediate answer of many would be no. However, student-athletes should be exempt from class attendance policies because some student-athletes attend college primarily for their sport and students should be able to invest more time and effort into the real reason for their college career. It is often said that education should come before anything else. “Education is the most important factor for the development of the country” (“Education”). However, this is not always true in terms of the success of one's collegiate career. Education is not the top priority of every student, and there are many ways to live successfully after college without focusing on the academic part as the top priority. Only about 30% of Americans complete a college degree by age 25, while another 10% complete a college degree by then (Paulson). Not everyone's top priority is academics, with many alternatives and goals to pursue, many people drop out or simply stop trying and eventually fail. H...... half of the document ...... and policies.Works Cited"College Enrollment Statistics."http://www.statisticbrain.com/. 28 April 2013. Web. 17 January 2014. "Is education the most important factor for the development of a country? Do you agree?" StudyMode.com. Network. November 2012."How many people go to college each year?"http://howtoedu.org/. Network. January 17, 2014.Osman, Rachel. "Should class attendance be mandatory? Students and professors say no." USA Today College. March 25, 2012: Web. December 11, 2013. Paulson, Amanda. "Does everyone need a college degree? Maybe not, says Harvard study." Christian Science Monitor. 02 Feb 2011: SIRS Issues Researcher. Network. December 11, 2013.Stewart, Xenia. “Sometimes, Student-Athletes Just Want to Be Normal. New York Times. February 05, 2009. Web. January 17, 2014. Swasey, Christel. “Top Ten Professors Who Scream So-Called Common Core College Prep. 07 September 2013. Web. 17 January 2014.