Amid Pandemic, Kennesaw State Sees Record Summer Enrollment

Kennesaw State University announced that over 20,000 students enrolled in summer classes this year, a 14% increase in summer enrollment in comparison to last summer, KSU Vice President of Enrollment Services Brenda Stopher said.

With KSU’s record-breaking enrollment numbers coming in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, administrators and students suggest that the increase may indicate that some students in Georgia are taking online classes as a way to make use of the additional free time caused by the pandemic. 

 

“Typically, many students would be focused on going out and getting a summer job,” Stopher said. “A lot of those opportunities are not out there. So to keep themselves engaged and busy, it is a perfect opportunity to take classes over the summer.”

For many college students, summer activities such as internships, study abroad opportunities and other work experiences were put on hold as a result of the pandemic. That gives students greater flexibility to take summer classes, students say.

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“A lot of my plans were put on the back-burner,” rising-sophomore Samantha Homcy said. “I wasn’t really considering it as much before. But when I realized I wasn't going to have much going on, I was like, ‘Might as well.’”

While a student at Mercer University, Homcy signed up for three online classes at KSU due to the greater flexibility she gained with her internship being remote, she said.

For KSU rising-sophomore Britney Phan, she enrolled in an online chemistry class primarily to get ahead in her studies. But her decision was also motivated by seeing her mother go back to work as a nail technician in the middle of the pandemic, Phan said.

“I just felt like, if she was going to work even with this coronavirus thing going on, I don’t want to be sitting at home and not be contributing,” Phan said. “I might as well be productive.”

And even for those who enrolled in summer classes before the pandemic hit, the additional free time they gained has helped them prioritize their studies.

 

“I see this time as an opportunity for me to jump ahead,” said Annessa Thompson, a KSU student who enrolled in her class before the school’s spring and summer semester moved online. “I might as well take this time while I have it.”

Additionally, Stopher said the increase in summer enrollment was also influenced by Kennesaw's 6% jump in enrollment this fall. That fall enrollment increase was also significant among the school’s freshman class, which grew by 30%, she said.

On top of that, over the past two summers the school has been pushing an initiative called “Get In The Fast Lane,” encouraging students to take classes during the summer. The initiative was created in hopes of getting more students to graduate on time, Stopher said.

While Kennesaw’s summer enrollment jumped by 14% this summer in comparison to the summer prior, last summer also had a 9% increase in enrollment in comparison to the summer before that as well, Stopher said.

 

“Our advisers have been really encouraging to students to stay on their path, continuing to take classes that will help them progress and hopefully help them graduate in a shorter period of time,” Stopher said. “Then, you couple that with COVID, and I think that it was a perfect storm.” 

While all of Kennesaw State’s summer offerings have been shifted to online learning, the school announced their reopening plans for their fall semester, which can be read here.