What about students who stay in class and do little or no work, and seem to be there just for the financial aid?
Such students are not allowed to continue on financial aid. The Financial Aid Office has a stricter satisfactory progress policy than the college does and these types of students will be suspended from receiving financial aid. The full policy governing student financial aide can be found in the LBCC Financial Aid Standards of Progress.

When is the satisfactory progress policy enforced? 
Generally, the policy is enforced at the end of the spring semester.

Can you summarize the satisfactory progress policy?
A student must complete the units for which financial aid is received for the fall and spring semesters, minus a 3-unit leeway. For example, if a student receives full-time aid for fall and spring, that student must complete 21 units. Furthermore, financial aid students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0. At the end of the spring semester, students who fail to complete the required units, and/or are below a 2.0 GPA, are suspended from receiving financial aid. Completed classes include assigned grades of A, B, C, D, and Pass. Any other grades assigned, including F, NP, MW, W, and I will result in a class not being completed.

Sometimes a student will ask for an F rather than a W in order to keep their financial aid.
Such a student is badly misguided. Both an F and a W are classes that are not complete for financial aid purposes. An F will hurt the student's GPA, but a W won't. Otherwise, to us, there is no difference.

When can students be suspended from receiving financial aid?
Students will be suspended from receiving financial aid at the end of a semester in which no units are completed, or at the end of the spring semester when the above progress policy is enforced.

Can a suspended student petition for reinstatement to the financial aid program?
There is a petition process for reinstatement following suspension from the financial aid program. Essentially, a student will be considered for reinstatement if proof can be provided that a situation outside of his/her control has occurred. However the overall record of the student is considered and petitions are not automatically approved, especially if the student has multiple suspensions.

Is it possible for the Financial Aid Office to flag students on rollbooks or grade rosters?
Although this is a good idea that could help all of us in our efforts to make sure financial aid students take their education seriously, there are rights to privacy issues that won't let us identify students as being on financial aid.

Is there a way to make sure that financial aid students use their funds to buy the books they need for class?
Although this policy, too, has merit, we simply have no way to enforce something like this.

What if a student insists that I sign an Attendance Verification form even though the student hasn't been attending regularly?
In a case like that, refuse to sign the form and refer the student to the Financial Aid Office.