Summer school enrollment is declining at The University of Memphis, and incoming freshmen might find this trend will continue in upcoming years.
Undergraduate enrollment for summer school in 2004 decreased from 2003 by 4 percent, said Dr. Thomas Nenon, associate vice-provost for undergraduate programs at The University. Final figures for 2005 were not available.
Nenon said the decline in summer school enrollment in 2004 was the result of lower enrollment the preceding academic year, and summer school enrollment usually follows the enrollment trends of the previous academic year.
“This year those trends have changed,” Nenon said.
Nenon said undergraduate enrollment is down this summer by a noticeable amount, and the loss has taken place at the senior level. Where most of the undergraduate enrollment in 2003 was from seniors, it is now higher in other classifications.
“We studied it to see if it could be attributed to different course offerings, but that can’t be it since we offer the same number of courses and course sections to various levels over the past two years as we did in previous years,” Nenon said.
Nenon said the decline in summer enrollment could be a result of the tuition increase, making summer courses more expensive. Lottery scholarships are not offered during the summer, and many students have used up their Pell grants by then, he said.
Nenon said students should consider other options for summer.
“I think there are a lot of sensible things students can do during the summer,” he said. “One would be to try to work and save up enough money to avoid having to work very much during the regular semesters and to be able to concentrate on academic work during that time. Paid internships would be the best option.”
Nenon added, however, that the primary reason students attend summer school is to reduce the number of years it takes them to graduate.
