by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Summer school might soon become more appealing to thrifty UNM students.
The Regents' Finance and Facilities Committee unanimously approved a proposal Monday that would make summer courses 15 percent cheaper per credit hour than the fall and spring rates.
Wynn Goering, associate provost of academic affairs and creator of the proposal, said it is meant to encourage students to take advantage of an underused session.
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"One of our big challenges here is capacity, as any student who has been unable to get into a course they want will tell you," he said. "So when we took a look at this, it seemed pretty clear that of the space and time and terms we had, summer was the leading one in terms of capacity."
There will be about 30 extra classes offered this summer to accommodate the anticipated higher enrollment, he said. In addition, there is more room in buildings during the summer, he said.
Student Nathan Rieb said the proposal will make better use of facilities and professors.
"I think cheaper is good, because if you're bringing in professors to do it, you want enough people to make it worth their while," he said. "To make it actually help a bunch of people, instead of just a few."
About 8,300 students enrolled in the summer 2005 semester, and about 8,700 in the summer 2004 semester. Last year's summer enrollment was the lowest since at least 2001, when about 8,350 students enrolled.
If the growth in summer enrollment mirrored the growth in overall enrollment since 2001, the summer enrollment should have been 9,437, according a handout provided by Goering.
The first two years with cheaper summer classes would cost the University about $900,000, according to the handout, and the University would break even in the third year, generating additional revenue after that.
Those predictions rely on UNM achieving an 8 percent growth in this year's summer enrollment, a 4 percent growth in summer 2007's enrollment, and growth in subsequent summer semesters that is equal to growth in traditional semester enrollment.
Student Nick McGuire said the proposal might be a mixed blessing.
"It will help a lot of students who might be on a small budget," he said. "But I guess it might hurt the University if they end up making less money."
Goering said summer school is important to help students graduate in a timely manner.
"It's rare anymore for a student to make it in four years, but that's when the financial aid runs out for a lot of them. The longer it drags out for these people, the more the total cost of the education," he said. "The place where we have the best chance to make a difference is in summer school."
It is important to make summer school affordable because the Lottery Success Scholarship and UNM's merit-based scholarships do not cover the summer term, so students are paying for it with their own money, he said.
Student Heather Thomas said cheaper summer school would not make her more likely to enroll.
"To me it's not an issue - if I have to do it, I have to do it, and it's not a matter of the cost," she said. "School's important to me, so I'll do it no matter what, no matter what the cost is. So yeah, it would be nice if it's cheaper, but it's not a major factor."
