This January, students will be able to take intersession classes at Mesa for the first time since 2008. Intersession classes will be compressed into four week classes, that are taught in between the fall and spring semesters, during winter break. Classes start Jan. 3, 2017 and end on Jan. 28, 2017 right before the spring semester starts.

After budget cuts eliminated intersession 10 years ago, administration came together over the past year to plan it out and make it available to students again. Mesa will be offering 133 different courses altogether. Most of these courses are available during intersession are general education requirements, but are not limited to those categories. Intersession classes are available for enrollment during the student’s spring semester registration date and time.

The cost per unit is the same as a fall or spring class, costing $46 per unit for residents. Financial Aid also applies to these classes. Sense the academic calendar has been updated for intersession the spring semester will end later in the year on May 27, 2017.

Although the class is only four weeks students will still be spending the same amount of time in the classroom as they would during an 16 week course. Three unit classes are scheduled with about 52 hours of instruction per week for 16 weeks. Intersession classes also have the same amount of hours, because students attend classes everyday for a longer periods of times.

A few advantages about intersession are that students are able to focus on one class at a time rather than being spread out and possibly stressed. Regular services like tutoring and the Learning Resource Center will all be open while intersession is in progress. Parking will also be better due to the fewer number of students on campus. Intersession allows you to pad your credits in a sense. For example you could take three units during intersession and lessen your course load from 18 units in the spring semester to 15 units. Students may assume they are giving up their winter break by taking intersession, but that isn’t necessarily true. Many of the classes offered are online classes, so students can still get credits and enjoy their break. For those interested, intersession allows students to take a maximum of 24 credits combined with spring credits.