Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 21, 1993 TAG: 9305210096
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
By Wednesday evening, 5,697 students had signed up for Tech's first session, said Wanda Dean, university registrar.
And after a decline of 400 students in first-session enrollment since 1990, officials are happy to see the change.
Tech had offered the sale - 15 percent off last year's tuition - to make more use of the empty space on campus, to increase enrollment and boost revenues.
In real dollars, that would be a cost of $327 for three credit hours for in-state students instead of $384.
But the sale comes only three months before Tech will increase its tuition by more than 7 percent, said Joyce Williams-Green, assistant provost and director of summer sessions.
"I think that's the main reason a lot of people are here," said Brian Bernish, a rising junior in biochemistry. "Everybody needs to get ahead or catch up. It's a lot easier when the rates are lower."
In 1990, Tech did a survey to see why students weren't coming to summer school.
"They said they weren't attending because they needed summer jobs, they needed to work to get the money to come back next year," Williams-Green said.
Jobs weren't available in Blacksburg, so many students went home.
The university formed a committee of students, faculty and staff to look for ways to boost enrollment.
Members came out with a five-year plan they hoped would improve enrollment and revenues and improve the retention and graduation rate, as well.
The sale, they said, would give students a much-needed financial break.
The first steps on the plan were taken this year when Tech began marketing its summer sessions.
"We've never done that before," said Williams-Green, who put posters on campus and ads in papers to advertise the tuition sale. "We've never had to."
Her office came out with a brochure with a sunrise over Blacksburg on the front. They came out with an arts calendar, responding to a survey complaint that "there was nothing to do" in Blacksburg during the summer.
And, for students who did go home for the summer, the university also started offering courses through the Northern Virginia Graduate Center, in the hopes that students would still take classes at Tech.
"So far, it looks pretty popular," Williams-Green said.
The offerings - including engineering statics, precalculus and technical writing - are available through either computers, on-site teachers or television.
This summer, Williams-Green will do more studies, evaluate and re-evaluate. She hopes to offer a tuition sale next year, too, but nothing is definite.
A number of Tech students interviewed this week said they would be in summer school regardless of the tuition sale.
"I would have gone to summer school, anyway," said Veronica Gauss, a student in electrical engineering. "But this just makes it nicer. It encourages you to take more in the summer."
The rising costs have pushed Gauss, who is from Maryland, to try to finish her degree in four years, instead of the five most students take to complete an engineering degree.
Other students said the discount won't make much of a dent in the cost of four to six years of college.
"I didn't even know there was a discount," said Jason Bergener, a senior in chemistry.
"The only thing I noticed is that tuition is a lot more than it was two years ago," said Laurel Snapper, a graduate student from Herndon.
Patrick Bolton of Pittsburgh said the tuition sale saved him only about $50 on the courses he needed for his chemical engineering degree.
"I'm from out of state, so I'm screwed anyway," he said.
rginia\ Summer School enrollment\ \ First session Second session\ 1990 5,963 4,283\ 1991 5,860 4,283\ 1992 5,544 4,276\ 1993 5,697 ---
by CNB