In-state students who want to enroll in summer classes at the Colorado State University Fort Collins campuses will have more support than ever thanks to an additional $640,000 in one-time, need-based financial aid recently approved by the Board of Governors.
This means nearly 1,000 students will receive support from the CSU Tuition Assistance Grant in Summer Session 2022, an increase from the 600 who benefited the previous two summers.
“We are very grateful to the CSU Board of Governors for investing in our summer tuition assistance program with this infusion of funds as part of a $1 million package they approved specifically for increasing financial aid to students,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Mary Pedersen.
Last fall, the board committed $9 million in new resources for CSU over the next three years to support increased financial aid for rural and lower-income students; further development of data tools to analyze and inform student success decision making for all students, investments in academic and co-curricular improvements to support marginalized populations, faculty professional development, academic enrichment, and targeted interventions at the college and department level; and more.
“The timing of this large infusion for the Summer 2022 session is critical given the impacts of COVID, and the extenuating financial circumstances some of our students and their families have faced these past two years,” Pedersen said. “These additional funds will be incredibly impactful for our students who want to attend summer classes to allow them to stay on track for graduation, but otherwise might not be able to afford to do so.”
The CSU Office of Institutional Research has found a positive correlation between summer session enrollment and student success, including greater retention and graduation rates, especially for rising sophomores and juniors.
“There are two great time-saving benefits to summer classes,” said Anne Van Arsdall, the director of CSU Summer. “The first is getting caught up on courses needed for graduation, and the second is getting ahead on credits.”
This summer, CSU will offer more than 1,700 sections with varying term lengths and instructional methods, including face-to-face, online and hybrid.
Students can use the Courses at a Glance tool on the CSU Summer website to filter for summer courses by course delivery type this year, in addition to subject, term, and AUCC category.
Van Arsdall said many students use the summer to focus on more challenging courses and experiential learning opportunities that they may not have time for during the fall and spring.
“There are so many experiential learning opportunities during the summer on the mountain campus and beyond,” Van Arsdall said. “This is a great time to do internships, study abroad, and participate in the field experiences and research they might not be able to fit in during the fall and spring. The summer is certainly a great opportunity to get hands-on.”
Registration for summer classes begins on RAMweb at noon on Tuesday, March 22.
