“This has direct correlation with transfer students trying to get into a four-year program at MSU sooner than later,” Cook said.

Some students might find summer classes advantageous for catching up on classes before the fall semester starts or retaking a class they did poorly in during the fall or winter semester, especially with the availability of online courses.

Journalism junior David Defever is taking a summer class through MSU for the first time this year and said he’s happy the course is offered online.

“It’s nice that the course is offered online so I am able to take the course while I do my internship over the summer with MiHockeyNow,” Defever said. “Plus, I’ve heard some classes are easier to take in the summer rather than in the fall.”

With the summer divided into two sessions, students also have the chance to pack in more courses — up to 32 credit hours if students enroll in 16 credits per session.

But cramming the same amount of material in half the time might mean extra challenges for students taking summer classes, especially if students pick difficult courses they shied away from in the fall or spring semesters, said Gary Hoppenstand, professor of English and associate dean of undergraduate academic affairs at the College of Arts and Letters.

“Sometimes, students take the more difficult classes in the summer because they can focus on one class more than a group of classes,” Hoppenstand said.

“The other side of that is if they are taking difficult material in a shortened period of time, that situation often times makes those classes even more difficult. Students think they can get this hard course out of the way in the summer, and they find that it is even harder because it is so compressed.”

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Engineering Thomas Wolff cautions students to be careful about overloading their summer class schedule.

“For one hour of class, you need to spend two to three hours outside on homework and review,” Wolff said. “You have a normal three-hour class taking nine to 12 hours of your time, and if you double it up it’s 18 to 24 hours. So, taking one class is sort of like a part-time job — students need to make sure they can make time for that.”