As the first session of the summer semester begins, students are gearing up for another round of classes.

“I took calculus [online through DMACC] last summer with a full-time job, and that was crazy. I did not have time to do anything else,” said Kaeleigh Gebard, junior in kinesiology, pre-physical therapy. “I think this summer, working in the evenings instead of all day and still being in the university setting . . . and being here — and having all my friends taking classes as well — will hopefully be a little bit easier.”

Students like Gebard will be taking classes during the first session of the summer semester, which ends July 8. The second session of the semester will begin June 13 and end August 5. Both sessions are 8 weeks long.

“Most of the students who are enrolled in the first summer session are continuing students,” said Phil Caffrey, senior associate director of admissions. “Most of the students who enter Iowa State during the summer term do not enter until the second summer session, so as we’re admitting new students for the summer, we’re admitting the vast majority of them for the second session.”

Caffrey also explained the benefits of the second summer session to incoming students.

“We have a summer trial enrollment that we offer to some students who don’t meet our criteria for normal admissions requirements, and those students have to enroll during the second summer term,” Caffrey said. “If they [earn a “C” average] then they are allowed to continue in the fall and they’re no longer on a trial basis, and they’re actually 6 credits ahead of the students who are starting in the fall.”

Undergraduate and graduate students who enrolled at Iowa State for the 2010 summer semester totaled 9,634 — an increase of 515 students from 2009, according to the Office of the Registrar’s Enrollment Statistics.

Students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering make up approximately 48 percent of students in the summer. Minority and international students comprise about 26 percent of summer semester students.

Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Registrar Kathy Jones said she believes there is an increase in enrollment for this summer semester.

“We will not have summer enrollment counts until June 24.  At this point, the best indication of summer enrollment is the trend for academic year 2010-2011 as compared to the prior year,” Jones said. “Both fall and spring enrollments were up this year, so I would expect that summer would follow the upward trend.” 

Caffrey said he thinks several factors attract students to the summer semester.

“The courses meet for 8 weeks instead of the regular 16 weeks a semester, and a 3-credit class that would typically meet 3 hours a week in the fall or spring meets 5 hours a week during the summer term, so the pace is considerably faster,”he said.

“For a lot of students, I think it’s just catching up. Maybe they took a lighter load in the fall or spring,” Caffrey said. 

Sarah Donahue, junior in business and environmental studies, cites similar reasons for taking summer classes.

“When I switched majors I had to get a lot of my business ones out of the way, and so before I can start my core classes I have to make sure I get all my Business Administration classes done,” Donahue said.

Not only does the summer semester offer students a chance to “catch up” on classes, but also the atmosphere during the summer is something that Caffrey believes appeals to students.

“The summer term is kind of a contrast because while the pace is fast, the atmosphere just seems more relaxed, I think — and I think students like that,” Caffrey said. “Also, when students take summer classes, they don’t normally take more than a couple classes, so it really allows you to focus just on one or two classes instead of taking five classes in the fall, so I think that’s kind of appealing to students too.”

Gebard appreciates the atmosphere of the summer semester, which aids her in focusing in on her courses.

“My mom told me that you should take your hardest classes [in the summer]…and I feel like [my classes] will be easier in the summer, and it’s a good way to stay on top of your schoolwork,” Gebard said.