Summer is traditionally a time to take a break from school.
But more than ever, students are seeing summer school as a normal part of going to college.
This year, summer session enrollment at UCLA increased 6 to 7 percent along with 10 to 11 percent more classes being offered, said Kathleen Micham, marketing manager for the Summer Sessions and Special Programs Office.
Although this trend can be seen as a response to the budget crisis facing UCLA, the increase in enrollment does not appear to be related to fears about the possible effects that the California budget crisis could have on class enrollment in subsequent quarters.
In fact, California’s financial predicament seems to have a very limited correlation with the increase in enrollment in summer session or the additional number of classes offered. Instead, these increases may be a result of a changing college attitude toward summer session, as taking summer classes is becoming accepted as the rule rather than the exception, Micham said.
“People just accept that they will be doing at least one summer here,” Micham said. “The best way to save money on education is to finish in four years.”
A reduction in the cost of taking classes may also be the reason behind these increases, she said. Although the price per unit may not seem cheap, Robert Cox, manager of the Office of Analysis and Information Management, said that prior to 2001, summer session was much more expensive because it was not funded by the state.
Cox said that after the program received state funding in 2001, there was a 45-percent increase in enrollment, the largest increase in student enrollment ever in a year. He said that he believed that this year’s increase in summer enrollment was an intensification of the growing trend of students taking summer classes.
Thus, the effect that the budget crisis seems to have had on summer session appears to be slight, and any increase in enrollment classes offered is most likely a tactic to meet the demand for students who see summer classes as an opportunity to catch up or get ahead.
Likewise some students said they did not consider California’s financial crisis when signing up for summer classes.
“The main reason I decided to take summer session is because the two classes I’m taking generally fill up really fast during the year and I’m only able to get them now,” said Lea Cohen, a second-year geography and environmental studies student.
When asked if the budget crisis played any role in her decision to take summer classes Cohen said that the thought did not cross her mind.
Taking extra quarters to finish undergraduate work is becoming less popular as costs continue to rise, Cox said.