Shania Flanigan, left, of Hanceville wraps up some final details for taking classes this summer at Wallace State Community College with help from Savannah Mann. Flanigan is a rising sophomore at Wallace State and taking courses this summer to stay on track for graduating on time and transferring to Alabama State University.
HANCEVILLE – More than 3,000 students have enrolled in summer classes at Wallace State Community College at its main campus in Hanceville and the new Oneonta campus center in Blount County.
Classes started on Thursday for the summer semester, and will continue through August 5. Regular and Mini Term (two, five-week terms) classes are being offered in dozens of courses, with traditional classes offered during the day and evening on campus, as well as online courses.
Attending classes during the summer term has a number of benefits, said Jennifer Hill, assistant dean of enrollment management at Wallace State. For recent high school graduates, it’s a chance to make an easier transition into college while avoiding the larger crowds of incoming students in the fall. It is easier to get enrolled in many summer classes due to the fewer number of students competing for seats in classes. It’s also a good time for students at four-year colleges to take courses for credit that can transfer back to the degree they are working on there.
The latter are called transient students, Hill said, and enrollment by those students is up 16 percent over last summer.
New Wallace State students Kross Roden and Nick Mosley of Vinemont fall into the new high school graduates category. The 2016 VHS graduates were completing the registration process Thursday morning to enter into the Welding program. Both said they wanted to go ahead and start taking classes this summer so they could get a head start in the program and finish as soon as possible. Each is taking four classes this summer.
Wallace State freshman Shania Flanigan of Hanceville is registered for 17 hours of coursework this summer, rounding out her first year on campus. A music education major – a change from physical therapy –Flanigan is catching up on some of her core courses this summer after a busy fall and spring. She said taking the summer courses would help keep her on track for graduating on time and transferring to Alabama State University.
As full-time students this summer, Flanigan, Mosley and Roden are in the minority.
The majority of students enrolled in summer classes take classes part-time, Hill said. Some students use summer to catch up on a few classes or get a few classes ahead. Others find the lack of summer Pell grant funding to be an obstacle to full-time enrollment, and their class schedule is abbreviated due to the need to work. However, statistics show that those who maintain momentum of taking classes through summer, even part-time, are more likely to complete college, and so the reinstatement or summer Pell, which was cut some years ago, is again being discussed in Congressional circles.
Registration for regular and Mini Term I continues through May 27. Mini Term II will be held June 28 through Aug. 5, with registration on June 27. Priority registration for Fall 2016 begins on June 20, with classes starting on August 17.
For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu or call 256-352-8000.
