May 2006

Briefly speaking: Incentives for summer study

Summer Sessions students can soak up the sun as they study. (Karin Higgins/UC Davis)

Getting into the classes required for a particular major can sometimes be challenging, no matter how well students plan their schedules to graduate in four years. Fortunately, many of those courses are offered through the greatly expanded Summer Sessions with new classes available every year.

This summer, UC Davis is offering the additional incentive of a $300 credit for students who successfully complete eight or more units in each of the two six-week sessions. Registration begins May 8 for the sessions, which start in late June and early August.

Summer Session offerings have increased by almost a third since 2002, from 871 to 1,150 classes, including independent study courses, last year. And even more are anticipated this year. Last summer, more than 10,000 students took advantage of the summer courses — many of those were seniors, completing final requirements for graduation.

Courses help satisfy requirements

"Summer Sessions provide a great opportunity for students to maintain progress toward a timely graduation," says Fred Wood, interim vice provost for undergraduate studies. He notes that a new regulation increases to 39 the number of units a full-time student must pass each year to remain in good academic standing.

Wood says the campus has made a special effort to offer required courses during the summer that typically may have longer wait lists during the fall, winter and spring quarters. Those may include introductory math and science classes, composition courses, high-demand laboratory classes, popular lower- and upper-division courses, and general education courses from all fields.

"The campus has made a tremendous effort to meet the needs of the students by offering a wide array of courses to satisfy major and other requirements," Wood says.

The university encourages students to graduate in four years to make their education more affordable and to free spaces for other students who come to Davis.

Other learning and financial benefits

One of the other benefits of enrolling in summer courses is the smaller class size, which allows more personal interaction with professors. And if a student has a rental lease that expires at the end of the summer, staying in town to complete required units makes financial sense too, Wood says.

Students planning to take summer courses should remember that the same amount of curriculum for the usual 10-week quarter is compressed into six weeks. And in order to qualify as a full-time student for financial aid, students must be enrolled in a minimum of six units per session.

Summer Session I runs June 26 through Aug. 4. Session II runs Aug. 7 through Sept 15. Course fees for UC students are $136 per unit, and incidental fees total $228 per session.

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