As the semester comes to an end at Keene State College and the registration for summer classes has begun, some college students may be faced with the option to continue gaining credits before the fall semester begins.
Whether it be because students took a semester off, took a little longer than average to figure out their major, or simply because they are interested in expanding their education, according to the Continuing Education department, enrollment in summer courses is a popular option among KSC students.
KSC student Sierra Knight, an early childhood development and general science major, said she had a great experience with summer classes at KSC.
She explained she chose to enroll in three summer classes in 2012, and one class this past summer, in order to graduate on time.
Allie Norman / Equinox Staff
“When I took classes in the summer of 2012, I thought that the cost was pretty reasonable since I was technically considered a full-time student with twelve credits. However, last summer when I just took one class, I found it to be much more expensive. The process of paying was very doable since student accounts and financial aid were always willing to work with me,” Knight said.
Knight said she thought the registration process was very simple and similar to the registration process for fall and spring semesters. Although she said she found her summer enrollment to be costly, Knight said she would still recommend this option to anyone who needs to catch up with their course load for one reason or another.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to take control of the timeline of your education. I also felt like I got a lot out of my summer classes because of the small class sizes. There were always great discussions. Another thing I really appreciated was how the teachers were very understanding for us wanting to be outside in the summer sunshine and were aware of the amount of work we would be putting into such a short course,” Knight said.
KSC communication major Elizabeth Fecto, said she has recently enrolled in courses for this upcoming summer. She said she registered for two classes she needs in order to graduate in four years. Fecto explained her experience with financial aid to be not as positive as she had hoped.
“The registration process was easy, just like the spring and fall semesters. The cost for summer courses is ridiculous, four-hundred dollars per credit, which added up to about four thousand dollars for the two classes. I have to come up with that on my own, and financial aid didn’t help that much,” Fecto said.
According to the Continuing Education page on the KSC website, summer 2014 undergraduate tuition costs $477 per credit in total for in-state residents, and $517 in total for out-of-state students, which means an in-state resident taking a summer course would be paying about $1,908 for one class, which is close to what Fecto calculated.
Despite the financial aspect, Fecto said she would still recommend enrollment in summer courses, due to the smaller class sizes and the ability to get credits in a shorter amount of time.
However, The River Valley Community College in N.H. is a local community college that according to the website, offers a variety of summer courses for less than KSC.
According to the community college website, N.H. residents are charged $210 per-credit, students from New England are charged $315 per-credit and out of state residents are charged $478 per-credit.
Bristol Community College, located in Attleboro, Massachusetts offers summer courses to in-state residents for $24 per credit, however out-of-state residents would be paying $230 per credit, according to the college website, www.bristolcc.edu.
Chris Kouroyen, a sociology major and addictions minor at KSC, said he has also enrolled in courses for the 2014 summer semester. Similar to Fecto, Kouroyen said he found the tuition price of summer enrollment to be high but for what you get out of the classes, worth it.
“I found the registration process to be as easy as regular registration would be but without the worrying of a class filling up before you sign up, because of the amount of people that sign up for classes. Nevertheless, I found it to be excessive that I am paying around two-thousand dollars per one four-credit class,” Kouroyen said.
According to the KSC website’s Summer Program FAQ, summer courses are available in more than 30 different fields. Eighty-percent of these courses are taught in the classroom, while 20 percent are blended with online learning.
The website also states that housing, meal plans and financial aid are available for the summer semester. While it says matriculated students registering before April 14 will be billed to their account, registering after April 14 means payment is due at registration. It also says payment plans are available. This allows students to expand their tuition payments over April, May and June, while enrollment fees are still due at registration.
Angela Barlow, a professor at Keene State College, teaches courses during the summer semester. The courses she offers are taught within the online setting, and she said she would highly recommend enrollment to students hoping to broaden their education.
Barlow explained, “Taking courses during the summer semester is a great option for students to get electives and requirements to their major taken care of. I would recommend them to those who are highly disciplined, because keeping up with a class during the summer can be a challenge for college students, as well as keeping up with a class that is taught online.”
The choice of summer courses and where to enroll is up to the student, in-state or out-of-state.
KSC summer classes are offered through the Continuing Education and Extended Studies Programs.
Kenzie Travers contrbuted to this story
Jenna Lambert can be contacted at jlambert@keene-equinox.com
Kenzie Travers can be contacted at mtravers@keene-equinox.com