Spring semester enrollment offers special benefits

First-time, returning students can enjoy small class sizes

Just because the “traditional” academic year starts in late summer, there may be a perception among many prospective college students that the fall semester is the only time they can begin taking classes.

But that's not true for anyone ready to start or resume studies at Butte College. One of the benefits of spring semester enrollment — regardless of community college — is that class sizes are smaller, thus resulting in lower instructor-to-student ratios.

Spring semester classes get underway Jan. 22, 2024 and enrollment is open now.

Tammera Shinar, Butte's dean of enrollment services, said the new calendar year can be influential on people considering college.

“Usually, around the holiday season and new year, folks are focused on rejuvenating and what the next year will bring,” she said.

“The thought of education has always been there (in prospective students' minds), whether they're starting college or going back. They're looking for best time to do that. With the new year, people are more open to taking on new things.”

Shinar said the smaller class sizes can help ease the

transition into higher education for those who start in spring.

“Fall is our busiest time. It's when lots of our high school students graduated in the spring and are preparing for the fall semester,” she said. “Spring is a time for students to have more one-on-one support” from Butte officials.

“We don't have that influx of new students like we do in fall.”

Finally, the summer break can build a buffer between the spring semester

and the next round of classes in the fall.

“If it's new to them, taking classes in a 17-week semester followed by summer break and then starting fall term is just what some folks are looking for,” Shinar said. “It gives them a chance to work in summer, then spend time with their children if they're adult learners. Having that break can let them relax a little and then head back into it” in the fall.

The cost of attending Butte College is right;

thanks to various financial aid opportunities, including the Promise Scholarship, first-time college students who take a full course load can enjoy tuition-free education. It's a big incentive for those otherwise interested in higher education but who find the associated costs to be too much to overcome.

Shinar said she encourages prospective students to visit butte.edu/apply to find out about spring semester enrollment and related materials.

BUTTE COLLEGE — CONTRIBUTED Tammera Shinar, Butte College's dean of enrollment services, sits in her office on campus in March 2023. Shinar says first-time or returning students who enroll for the spring semester enjoy several benefits compared to those who start or return in the fall.