Colleges expand summer sessions
Patricia Alex, The Record (Hackensack N.J.)
Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: News
"Any time you have people unemployed, it's almost inevitable, for public universities anyway, that you have more enrollment," said Stephen Hahn, associate provost at William Paterson University in Wayne.
He said that teacher training and online courses at William Paterson are in heavy demand. The university is offering air-conditioned dormitory space and has also discounted summer-session tuition and fees-$275 per credit as opposed to the $353 students will pay in fall.
For the first time this year, Rutgers has allowed students to pay for summer classes on an installment plan. The school also offered a hundred $500 scholarships for summer sessions.
As summer sessions have ramped up over the last decade, campuses have become way less sleepy during the dog days, with dormitories, dining halls and recreation centers generally running on a 12-month schedule.
"We're looking to build a sense of community,'' said Jamieson Bilella, director of the summer sessions at Montclair State. And, he said, flexibility is key. Like Rutgers, Montclair State is running a number of sessions of varying duration over the summer, and students can often register right up until the first day of classes.
The courses can be intense-the coursework that would be spread out over 15 or 16 weeks in a regular semester is compressed into six or even three weeks. "There's a lot more focus and more immersion," Hough said.
"There's a lot of studying, we cover four chapters in a day," said Eric Wahad, who is taking a three-week biology class in animal behavior at MSU. "We have an exam every week!"
But Wahad, a sophomore from Clifton, N.J., says he's happy for the chance to get ahead on the credits he needs for graduation.
Many students use the session to finish off requirements at the end of their college careers. Even the best students can get caught short of credits as they eye the finish line.
Rafael Juliano of Hackensack, N.J., is making an incredible leap this fall-from Bergen Community College to Brown University. Juliano, who has worked while attending school, has always taken summer courses to make his credit load during the regular school year more manageable. (Bergen's summer session is booming, with enrollment up at least 5.6 percent this year.)
Juliano has a 4.0 average, and a generous scholarship package awaits him at Brown. But he doesn't want to head off to the prestigious private school without that associate's degree from Bergen. So he is taking that one last class in statistics this summer.
"I'm having a bit of trouble getting too focused on it," he said. "It's summer and you tend to be more relaxed. But it's interesting and I think I can do well and keep my average."
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(c) 2009, North Jersey Media Group Inc.
He said that teacher training and online courses at William Paterson are in heavy demand. The university is offering air-conditioned dormitory space and has also discounted summer-session tuition and fees-$275 per credit as opposed to the $353 students will pay in fall.
For the first time this year, Rutgers has allowed students to pay for summer classes on an installment plan. The school also offered a hundred $500 scholarships for summer sessions.
As summer sessions have ramped up over the last decade, campuses have become way less sleepy during the dog days, with dormitories, dining halls and recreation centers generally running on a 12-month schedule.
"We're looking to build a sense of community,'' said Jamieson Bilella, director of the summer sessions at Montclair State. And, he said, flexibility is key. Like Rutgers, Montclair State is running a number of sessions of varying duration over the summer, and students can often register right up until the first day of classes.
The courses can be intense-the coursework that would be spread out over 15 or 16 weeks in a regular semester is compressed into six or even three weeks. "There's a lot more focus and more immersion," Hough said.
"There's a lot of studying, we cover four chapters in a day," said Eric Wahad, who is taking a three-week biology class in animal behavior at MSU. "We have an exam every week!"
But Wahad, a sophomore from Clifton, N.J., says he's happy for the chance to get ahead on the credits he needs for graduation.
Many students use the session to finish off requirements at the end of their college careers. Even the best students can get caught short of credits as they eye the finish line.
Rafael Juliano of Hackensack, N.J., is making an incredible leap this fall-from Bergen Community College to Brown University. Juliano, who has worked while attending school, has always taken summer courses to make his credit load during the regular school year more manageable. (Bergen's summer session is booming, with enrollment up at least 5.6 percent this year.)
Juliano has a 4.0 average, and a generous scholarship package awaits him at Brown. But he doesn't want to head off to the prestigious private school without that associate's degree from Bergen. So he is taking that one last class in statistics this summer.
"I'm having a bit of trouble getting too focused on it," he said. "It's summer and you tend to be more relaxed. But it's interesting and I think I can do well and keep my average."
___
(c) 2009, North Jersey Media Group Inc.
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