Is it haram to skip lectures?

No specific rule, but clear principles

There's no verse or hadith about university lectures. Islam does, however, care a lot about keeping agreements and using time well. The Quran opens a whole surah with:

When you enrol, you agree to the course rules. If attendance is compulsory, for example on a visa, a funded scholarship or a professional degree, then skipping without a valid reason goes against an agreement you made. The Prophet ﷺ described breaking promises and betraying a trust as signs of hypocrisy (Sahih al-Bukhari 33).

When missing a lecture is fine

• Prayer: if a lecture clashes with a prayer you can't delay, prayer comes first. See Can I skip class to pray?
• Illness, family emergencies or mental health: rest and follow the university's absence process.
• Optional lectures: if attendance isn't required and you learn the material well another way (recordings, reading), that's a personal choice.

When it becomes a problem

• Lying about it: asking a friend to sign you in, or faking a sick note, is dishonest. See Is it haram to cheat on exams?
• Wasting a trust: a scholarship, a loan, or money your family sacrificed is an amanah (trust).
• Wasting time: sleeping in or scrolling instead of learning, again and again, isn't how a believer treats the gift of time. See Is endless scrolling a waste of time in Islam?

Studying as worship

Seeking useful knowledge is praised in Islam, and with the right intention your studies can be rewarded. Going to class to build skills that help your family and community is worship in its own way. That shift in intention often makes 9 a.m. lectures feel a bit easier.