Scholarships are now available to Wesleyan students for the summer 2019 semester. Students registered prior to Jan. 1 are eligible for a $3000 summer scholarship. Students are required to take a minimum of 6 credit hours during the summer semester to qualify. Roughly, this equates to two classes for the price of one.

This new initiative is the brainchild of John Veilleux, vice president for enrollment, marketing & communications, who looked at summer enrollment numbers over the past several years and noticed a downward trend in student participation.

“I started looking at why this is happening,” Veilleux said. “When you take a fundamental 30,000 feet view and just kind of look and go well, ‘What do we do during the year when students come that we aren’t doing during the summer?’ One of the biggest things we do is offer scholarships. We haven’t been doing that in summers, so I said ‘Why are we not doing that in summer.’ It doesn’t take a whole lot of rocket science to figure out that if you make it more affordable, more students will enroll.”

In addition to scholarships, more classes will be available during the summer semester. The emphasis will be on junior and senior level classes, online classes, as well as classes that have high failures, drops and withdraws. Certain classes offered only once per year will also be available for students looking to graduate on time.

“We are trying to provide that path forward for them [students] to move along and complete their degree,” Veilleux said, “so really identifying that mix of classes, the right classes to offer on top of a financial aid package, which could lower their cost to attend, speed their degree and path to completion, which is what we’re trying to do. I think for the first time in a while we’ve really taken a hard look at that as deans, administrators, and I think we’ve done something that should be more of a service for students.”

Junior Nick Davis said he had seen the fliers around campus but didn’t know any more information about the scholarship. Either way Davis said he wouldn’t be attending.

“I have not been to summer school here,” Davis said. “It’s cheaper to go elsewhere. I can go to Hill College for $300.”

A dozen students were asked, and like Davis the concern voiced most often was the affordability of summer school at Wesleyan. More inexpensive alternatives for core classes may continue to detract students from going to summer school on campus.

Veilleux said Wesleyan’s emphasis on upper level classes during the summer term that must be taken at Wesleyan should help with enrollment.

Senior Ashley Hicks said she would be looking into the scholarship because she already goes to summer school. Hicks also said she wouldn’t mind online classes if that’s all that was available.

“I’m not familiar with the scholarship, but I’ll definitely look into it,” Hicks said.

Students who register after Jan. 1 who are not eligible for the $3,000 scholarship will have a summer scholarship option available to them as part of their scholarship package.

According to Veilleux the main objective of this scholarship is to make Texas Wesleyan more affordable for students.

“We understand that it costs a lot of money to go here, and anything that we can do to make school more affordable not only helps students, but it helps them graduate early and helps them graduate on time, and ultimately that’s what we are trying to do,” Veilleux said.

Priority registration for summer classes begins March 25. Late registration ends June 4.