UNL experienced abundant summer enrollment

The economy was down, but enrollment was up for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln over the summer.

A number of colleges across the country saw substantial increases in the number of students who took summer classes this year. The University of California, Santa Cruz had a 15 percent enrollment increase this summer, and Western Oregon University saw 17 percent enrollment increase.

While the increase wasn't as high as those schools, UNL did see a spike in summer course enrollment, said Paul Savory, director of summer sessions.

"My original expectation was to match our Summer 2008 results in terms of head-count and student credit hours production – thus zero percent growth. The results far exceeded our expectations," Savory said.  "Head-count was up, student credit hours were up, and registrations were up."

Total enrollment in UNL summer sessions for 2009 was 5,649 undergraduate students and 3,071 graduate students, a 4.09 percent and 5.03 percent increase respectively over 2008. There was also a 3.93 percent increase in the number of credit hours taken.

Savory attributes the increase in the enrollment numbers to three main factors.

First, students see the benefits of summer sessions in helping them graduate on time. Sometimes completing just two or three courses over the summer can mean graduating an entire semester early, saving students money in terms of fees and living expenses.

Second, there were to be fewer employment opportunities this past summer for students. With the lackluster economy, companies were cutting back on hiring, and many students would prefer to take summer courses rather than letting their summer go to waste.

Last but not least, Savory credited the jump in enrollment numbers to UNL's marketing efforts to increase the number of freshman and sophomore students taking classes.

"I think the economy, coupled with efforts by our faculty and Summer Session leadership, played a role in growing UNL's summer enrollment," said Greg Gunderson, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, who worked closely with Savory during the summer.

Faculty had worked extra this year in marketing the summer courses offered by UNL, and that obviously paid off, Savory said.

"We had an absolutely great summer this year," he said.

ruthangelina@dailynebraskan.com