More college students taking summer courses

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Students filled the lecture hall at Clayton State University, waiting for the introduction to biology course to begin.

The class -- a core requirement for many students -- is offered during the fall and spring semesters, but it has become a popular option during the summer. While 34 students took the course during the summer of 2007, 53 registered for the class this summer.

Leaders at Clayton State and other campuses have reported similar increases, showing school isn't out for summer.

Several factors are driving the high enrollment, including a shortage of summer jobs and internships; students taking courses they couldn’t get during fall and spring semesters because of budgets cuts; and the fact that the Pell Grants can now be used year-round instead of just during fall and spring semesters.

Official enrollment figures won't be available until next month as some colleges are still enrolling students for sessions. Colleges provided numbers from 2007 through 2009 and included projected enrollment for this summer as well.

Kennesaw State University enrolled 11,783 students for this summer, an increase of almost 10 percent since summer 2007. Southern Polytechnic State University registered 2,610 students, a nearly 19 percent increase since 2007. Clayton State has enrolled 4,005 students, a 16 percent increase from three years ago.

Stephanie Urich, a graduate student at the University of West Georgia, summed up why many students enrolled in summer school.

"I want to get through the program as fast as I can so I can get a job," said Urich, who is getting a master's degree in English. "It's just better for me to have something in the summer so I get through and get my degree."

Students also said they prefer taking some courses during the summer because they have a lighter load and the classes are smaller, which helps them focus. Clayton's introductory biology course, for example, has 53 students this summer but averages between 60 to 64 people during the fall and spring semesters, according to university data.

"I like taking the harder ones now so that I can get them done with," said Jennifer Dunn, a music major enrolled in the biology class. "And what else was I going to do this summer? Sometimes it's easier to just keep going and stay in that school mindset."

A backlog of students waiting for space in the biology class' co-requisite lab contributed to the increased enrollment in the course, said John Campbell, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Clayton.

The greatest demand for summer courses so far has been in nursing, engineering, business management, teacher preparation, computer science and information technology, according to administrators from local colleges. These are some of the more popular majors at colleges and the type of classes that some students must wait more than a year to get into. Colleges have been unable to offer more courses in these areas because of a shortage of money, faculty and classroom space.

Attending college during the summer isn't necessarily cheaper. Students often pay less tuition because they're taking fewer courses, but they still must pay the same fees colleges charge during the fall and spring semesters.

"All those fees add up and you don't have as many courses to choose from during the summer," said Anthony Murphy, a sociology major at Clayton. "But you do it because it's a way to get done. We're all just looking for a way to finish."