Enrollment for the pre-summer session and the first summer session is up by about 750 students ÷ or eight percent ÷ over last year, according to the office of summer and winter session, as a large number of juniors and seniors work toward their degrees.

Senior program coordinator for winter and summer sessions Beth Acree said that by the end of the first week of the first summer session 10,098 students had enrolled.

The increase is the result of a number of factors, ranging from studentsâ hopes of graduating sooner to worries about the availability of classes during the regular school year.

The desire to finish up was the motivating force behind Stephanie Grayâs decision to take summer classes.

Gray, a journalism senior, is currently taking two classes in the first summer session and is registered for a total of 12 credits this summer.

Gray decided to take summer classes because she was worried about getting the classes she needs to graduate in May.

Brendan OâRourke, a studio art senior, decided to take a digital design class during the summer because he wanted to learn more about the subject.

ăI didnât need the class for any specific requirement, but it is information I felt I needed,ä OâRourke said. ăThe class wonât, technically, help me toward graduation in terms of credits, but it is helping me further my knowledge.ä

Danica Grossman, a biochemistry junior, said she is taking a class during the first summer session to help break up her summer and have something to do. She thought it would be better to take calculus II over the summer than in the regular year because she doesnât have to concentrate on other classes in the summer.

Acree also attributes the increased percentage to yearly enrollment.

ăNormally summer session enrollment correlates pretty closely to yearly enrollment,ä she said.

The 8-percent increase might be the result of large freshman classes a few years ago, Acree said.

The freshman class grew by more than 300 students in 1998 and more than 250 in 1999, according to the UA Fact Book.

The students in those large incoming classes are now juniors and seniors and their desire to graduate accounts for the fact that they constitute 71 percent of the undergraduates enrolled in summer classes at the UA.

ăIt may take a few years, but eventually a big freshman class will want to finish up, and so youâll find that juniors and seniors make up the majority of summer students,ä Acree said.

Despite the enrollment increase, Acree said that class size should not be a problem in the first summer session. The UA increased the number of courses offered, so now about 545 regular classes are offered, with 9,700 students enrolled, not including independent study.