UW-Madison launched an effort to grow and expand the Summer Term several years ago, increasing courses both on-campus and online, and making a particular effort to offer courses needed to fill distribution requirements. The university has also worked to expand the number of nontraditional students who can take advantage of our summer offerings. This is the third Summer Term since starting these changes.
As a result, undergraduate enrollment increased 7 percent over summer 2017 to 8,298, and just under 15,000 total students were enrolled in summer courses. But not all of this resulted in a busier campus: Some of these courses were online. We want Summer Term to provide students more flexibility in their schedules, expanding their ability to complete an internship, study abroad, or work at a job, all while staying on track to graduate in four years, which helps keep their education affordable.