One of the challenges of going through college is balancing your class schedule. Each semester, students try to include both core credit and classes within their respective majors.

This can be difficult, especially with the high number of core requirements at Creighton. Some students find an answer by taking summer courses, which help decrease the load during the fall and spring semesters.

Starting this week, students are able to register for summer courses. Creighton offers more than 400 summer classes, which gives students plenty of options. There is also a 34 percent discount off the regular tuition for taking summer courses.

“With careful planning, summer credits can speed up degree completion, saving tuition expense and time,” said Maureen Crouchley, director of summer sessions.

She said the compressed time frame and smaller class size provides an intense learning environment for student and faculty alike. Summer courses teach a traditional 16-week course into a three or five weeks.

The summer sessions are not just available to Creighton students but to others in the Omaha community as well.

“Summer provides Creighton with a mix of currently enrolled students, students who only attend in the summer and transient students who are home for the summer and plan to transfer credit back to their home school,” said John Krecek, registrar for Creighton.

This allows for more student flexibility, Krecek said. Adding to that flexibility, Krecek also explained that students can actually register for their fall and summer courses at the same time, making it easier to plan out their futures.

Many of the services available during the school year are also available in the summer. For more information, visit the University College office located on the ground floor of the Eppley College of Business.