Should you take college summer courses? (updated 2024)

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Hi there. I am the prolific professor with 15 years of experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. Thanks for visiting.

Is it recommended that college students take summer courses?

Yes. You should take summer college courses if you want to graduate college earlier and your financial aid opportunities are more plentiful during the summer term. Make sure you manage your time appropriately since summer classes may have an accelerated schedule.

• If you only take 12 credit hours during the regular semesters, it would take you 5 years to graduate with a typical bachelor’s degree that requires 120 credit hours (without summer).

• If you wanted to graduate in 4 years, you would need to take 15 credit hours per semester (without summer).

• If you take summer classes, you can finish earlier or take fewer classes during the long semesters.

Which college student should take summer classes?

Any college student who wants to earn credit hours as fast as possible, and take advantage of the opportunity to graduate earlier should take summer classes. Not only will it accelerate your graduation, it may provide you with more financial aid opportunities.

You’re looking at your transcript, and thinking about taking summer classes to finish up early, or you want to catch up because you learned you aren’t on track to graduate on time. You might ask yourself these questions to find out if summer courses are right for you.

• Are you behind on college credits?

• Not going to graduate on time?

• Worried college is taking too long?

• Wanting to finish ahead of schedule to start working?

I’ve been there. But you worry that you’ll miss hanging with friends, and laying out by the pool during summer break if you take classes during the summer.

Or maybe you have a summer job and you cannot afford to miss the opportunity to make some money to pay your rent.

But you know that college might take less time than expected, and you are excited about the possibilities if you take summer classes.

Whatever the circumstances, you aren’t sure if you want to take summer classes, or you don’t understand the process. The summer months offer college students a great opportunity to earn credit hours to graduate sooner rather than later.

We’ve got you covered. We asked professors, and spoke to college graduates to get their feedback, and we did some research to help you understand the benefit of attending summer school for college.

Before you consider this guide, make sure you understand your college’s policies. Some colleges have varying terms and degree program requirements.

But in my research, most colleges have a fall semester, a spring semester and a summer semester. And they typically offer different options for attending, like in-person and online classes.

I am going to evaluate the effectiveness of you taking courses for a Bachelor’s degree. Some of you reading may be getting an Associate degree at community college, and that takes fewer credit hours. But all these things still apply to you so please read on.

Photo by Ethan Robertson / Unsplash

Things to consider before you take summer classes

Does your college offer summer courses?

Not every university or college will have summer courses, but it is very likely that your college does offer summer courses.

If they don’t offer summer courses, you might consider taking other courses at a nearby institution, or online college. Now, I will caution you to make sure the courses will transfer between the institutions. There are some requirements for each degree program and institution, and you want to make sure that the courses you take transfer first.

What I suggest is that you contact your academic advisor and ask about transfer credits if you plan on taking the class at another college during the summer. Anything you discuss needs to be in writing. You don’t want someone to give you the wrong information and find out that your course doesn’t count towards your degree. If it’s in writing (think email) then you can at least challenge it with your college later.

PRO TIP: Make sure the course is an equivalent. What I mean is if you take Anthropology 101 at one college, and then plan to transfer that to another college, make sure that Anthropology 101 transfers for a course that counts towards your degree plan than some random elective.

Sometimes courses may transfer, and you’re told they do, but not for an equivalent course that gets you closer to your degree. You don’t want to end up with all these electives transferring when you don’t need that many. And you’ll have more hours than needed for graduation. That’s wasted money and time.

How many college courses should you take during the summer?

This depends on many factors.

Did you get awarded financial aid?

Some colleges and tuition assistance programs may only award financial aid based upon credit hours taken so you want to make sure you’re counted as a full-time student (if necessary to receive aid), which may require a certain number of credit hours. This is usually 6 credit hours.

If you are completing a financial aid form called FAFSA, you want to make sure you have selected the award year necessary to receive aid for the summer. You will need to check with your college to see which award year they need on file to be eligible for summer assistance.

Does your college have several summer semesters?

You can break up your classes in different semesters to make it more manageable. For example, if they have two five-week terms, you could take one class the first five-week term and take the second class the next five-week term.

This gives you more flexibility and allows you to better manage your studying time.

Does your college have a maximum amount of hours you can take per semester?

Depending on the terms, you’ll typically have a maximum number of credit hours you can take each term. Let’s say the summer term is ten-weeks. The college may only allow a maximum of 12 credit hours.

If you are taking five-week terms, you may only be allowed to take two classes each five-week term.

This will all depend on your college and their terms, but it is very likely that there is some maximum number of hours allowed each term.

This is to protect students from overdoing it and giving you the best possible chance to succeed.

Are you getting awarded tuition assistance for the military?

There may be limits to your aid and exclusions for which courses will be covered. This will depend on which service you are or were in. Check to see your eligibility and restrictions.

Not only may you be eligible for tuition assistance from the GI Bill, you might also be eligible to receive money from the Top-Up program.

Are college summer courses harder?

College summer courses can be harder for some students if they don’t do well on an accelerated schedule, and cannot dedicate the time to study so often because of other priorities during the summer.

While the course material should be the exact same as a long semester, the schedule is much faster.

This means assignments are due more often and you will have to rely on studying more independently.

So, the professors are not necessarily making the course more challenging, but the short and fast-paced semester can be harder for some students. It is a lot of work to stay on top of.

How are summer college courses different than regular semesters?

Summer college courses are different than regular semesters because they are usually shorter. Colleges have different summer terms, for example, they may offer 5 week summer terms, 10 week summer terms, etc. And normally there is there a maximum number of hours you can enroll in for each summer term that is less credit hours than a regular semester.

These are questions you need to ask your advisor, and it is probably in your student handbook. You can typically see the semester start and end dates by checking the academic calendar.

I asked professors what they thought about summer classes for students and they said that they would recommend students talk to the professors and request their syllabus to see what the requirements are. Some professors will change the number of assignments or the grading scale during a summer term because it just isn’t possible to complete as many assignments or have the same grading scale for such a short term.

One professor mentioned being open with your professors about your concerns and ask them how many hours per week you should expect to spend on their course.

Summer courses might have fewer students enrolled and this means smaller class sizes. This gives you a better opportunity to talk with your professor and work in smaller groups.

Also consider if classes meet in-person or online. If they are online, this may give you some flexibility if you need to work. If you have to meet face-to-face, you may be limited in the number of classes you can take because you can only be so many places at once.

PRO TIP: Be realistic about your academic capabilities and don’t overdo it. You don’t want to be dealing with a withdrawal or failure on your transcript. Check the course schedule and make sure you can finish the assignments by the deadlines.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon / Unsplash

Will I finish early if I take summer college courses?

It is VERY likely that you will complete your degree earlier than expected if you take summer classes because you will be earning additional credit hours during an academic year.

Many colleges will only use long semesters (fall/spring) to determine completion for a degree program so taking summer classes likely accelerates you.

Make sure you understand the format of your college. Some colleges don’t do typical fall/spring/summer semesters.

We are going to consider the completion of a Bachelor’s degree which usually has a minimum number of credits you’ll need to complete. Most degrees need 120 credit hours but it could be more.

But let’s use the traditional fall/spring/summer format for our explanation. Let’s say that a degree requires 120 credit hours (pretty average). Let’s compare a 3-year, 3.5-year and a 4-year plan. And see how many courses you would need to take to complete per semester for that specified time-frame.

Figure 1 : Credit hours needed to complete degree in 3 years taking summer classes and completing 120 credit hours.

Figure 2: Credit hours needed to complete degree in 3.5 years taking summer classes and completing 120 credit hours.

Figure 3: Credit hours needed to complete degree in 4 years taking summer classes and completing 120 credit hours.

If you review each one of the options, they all require summer classes. Now, understand that you could take more classes during the fall and spring terms and you can avoid summer courses altogether.

But the reality is that the majority of your options for completion will need summer classes to be completed and there’s a good chance you’'ll have to take them at some point.

This may be why a lot of college students take longer than 4 years. Make sure you are prepared and plan your schedule out for several years to understand the classes that you need.

PRO TIP: Make sure that when you schedule classes, each one counts towards your degree plan and you don’t change catalogs, unless necessary. Most colleges will have you complete a degree plan based upon the academic year when you enrolled and the catalog they were using during that academic year.

This means that you are obligated to take those courses required for your degree program for that particular catalog that outlines your degree.

If you change degrees, or you change catalogs (sometimes it benefits you) then it can change your degree plan.

Is taking two summer courses too much for the average student?

If a college student takes two summer classes, this should be academically possible depending on the ability of the student. If you are an undergraduate student, two summer college courses would be doable, by most people’s standards. If you are a graduate student, this can still be accomplished with the right planning but it might be recommended to only take one graduate summer course.

Taking two summer courses in an undergraduate program is typical. But this depends on which summer semester you take the courses.

If you are taking two 10-week summer courses, this is entirely different than taking two 5-week courses.

And you should make sure you understand exactly how much work the course entails.

When I was a graduate student, I took two courses every summer and performed well in every course I completed. It is definitely doable for graduate students too, but again, this depends on your personal schedule and your dedication.

Can you save money by taking summer courses?

While the tuition is the same, you can save money by finishing classes early and you may be able to avoid paying room and board. This may not apply to you if you aren’t living on campus though.

The average room and board is anywhere from $9,395 to $12,540 at a four-year college. This can be a substantial savings if you can manage to finish early. So take summer courses and save extra money.

You can at least finish college early and start searching for a full-time job and get started in your career. Summer courses offer you the best opportunity to finish early.

According to the Social Security Administration, men and women with Bachelor’s degrees earn more than those who don’t have one. So if you finish early, you can start earning sooner.

And research found that a student’s return on investment for their college degree can start to diminish the longer it takes you to complete it.

PRO TIP: If you are at a university, and it’s possible to take a summer class at a community college, do that to save money as they’re usually cheaper. Just make sure you talk to an advisor about transferring the course for an equivalent credit.

Can I take summer classes at another college?

In most circumstances, you can take college classes at another college and they should transfer to your current college. But there are a lot of things to take into consideration before you attempt this as it is NOT a guarantee that your college will accept the course you plan to transfer.

As a former college professor, I had a lot of students that took my courses in the summer and they transferred to their current college without any problems.

But you need to talk to an academic advisor at your current university and the university or college you plan to attend in the summer, and know the policies at your current college too. Not all classes will transfer, and some colleges may require you to take a certain number of credit hours from their college for graduation.

You may have too many transfer credits already and they may not accept anymore.

This is typically how it works at universities within the United States so if you are in another country, you need to ask your college first.

Will taking summer college classes raise my G.P.A.?

Taking summer college classes doesn’t effect your G.P.A. any differently than when you take courses during a typical semester. In most situations, the course is weighted the same as any other course during the fall or spring semesters.

So taking summer courses will not magically help your overall G.P.A. since it’s treated the same as any other course.

Now, you could help your G.P.A. during the summer by repeating a college course for a better grade. And some students preform better in the summer term because of the advantages of summer classes like smaller class sizes and shorter semesters, but this depends on the student.

Not all students will do better during summer terms.

Key takeaways

• Take classes at a community college, when possible because it’s a great way to save money

• Make sure you always check about transfer equivalencies

• You can save money by taking summer classes (room and board)

• You can reduce the amount of time you’re in college by taking summer classes and get a better return on your investment

• Summer classes can have less homework but make sure you set aside plenty of time to study

• It’s definitely possible to work a part-time job and take summer courses

• Your completion will depend on if you take a full course load each semester

• Check with your financial aid office to find out about any impact on any money you receive

• Summer courses are typically shorter sessions

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