Washington State University’s Winter Session offers students a valuable opportunity to get ahead of schedule or stay on track to graduation following Fall 2020’s fully virtual semester.
Currently open for registration, Winter Session allows students to quickly earn three credits during the weeks before the start of Spring Semester. This extra session may be particularly valuable to students who had to drop a course while adjusting to the Fall 2020 pandemic-induced distance learning format.
“Winter Session is a great opportunity to complete a course in a very short amount of time,” said Rebecca Van de Vord, assistant vice president of Academic Outreach and Innovation (AOI) and vice chancellor of academic affairs for Global Campus.
Winter Session courses are offered fully online in a condensed format, with a three-week session running from Dec. 19th to Jan. 10th, during the winter break, and a six-week session running from Nov. 30th to Jan. 10th.
Due to the time commitment required, students may only take one Winter Session course.
“These courses are highly condensed but being able to concentrate on only one subject at a time can be very beneficial,” said Van de Vord. “For many students, it’s easier to keep their focus and devote the necessary time to studying when they don’t have to shift between multiple courses and subject matters.”
According to Van de Vord, the ability for students to succeed in these condensed Winter Session courses is reflected in statistics. Research conducted at the end of 2017 indicated that the vast majority of students, 91%, did very well, passing their Winter Session courses with grades of C or better.
“I highly recommend that students reach out to their academic advisors to see how they can take advantage of Winter Session to get ahead or stay on track to graduation,” said Van de Vord.
More than 30 courses are available for Winter Session, including in-demand courses that meet UCORE requirements. This is the largest offering of courses ever available during WSU Winter Session.
The popularity of Winter Session has been growing in recent years, with a record number of 639 students enrolling in 2019. More than 3,000 students have enrolled in WSU’s Winter Session since it began in 2010.
The session is open to all current and former students from any WSU campus, but new students who have not yet attended WSU are not eligible.
To learn more about Winter Session, get the course list, or to register, visit the Winter Session website.
