The cost of summer tuition has been lowered by 15 percent in an effort to encourage student enrollment, Continuing Education Dean Carol Vallett said. The University, as an institution, wants to focus more on summer classes, known at the University of Vermont as SummerU, Vallet said. “The University has a priority on both student retention and graduation rates so obviously more courses and more vibrant summers help that,” Vallet said.UVM sophomore Katherine Cable, who recently switched her major from Education to English, says she plans to take advantage of the lowered tuition. “Seeing how I just changed my major, it’s pretty radical that the rates have dropped,” Cable said.The benefits of taking sum?mer classes are numerous, Vallett said.”The great benefit is that summer classes are a lot smaller for the most part, so you can have a time when you get more faculty attention. “And for most students, because classes are shorter, (they’re only five weeks), they are only taking one or at the most two classes at a time so they can devote their attention to that one class,” Vallet said.The Student Government Association was also involved in the process of lowering tuition rates, said SGA President Kesha Ram.”Senator Ben Porter and I met with members of Continuing Education early on in the school year. They wanted our feedback on what would entice students to participate in SummerU. Although we spent some time discussing which courses would be most desirable and what special programs might appeal to the average UVM student, we steered the conversation toward affordability because it has been, and always will be, a clear barrier for many students,” Ram said. Chris Reckendwald, a junior at UVM, said the drop in tuition rates might entice him to take more classes at SummerU, even though he will be simultaneously working a summer job.”I was already planning on taking summer classes, but now that they’re cheaper I might take more than I originally thought,” said Reckendwald.”We learned that credits taken during the summer at UVM used to cost significantly less than credits taken during the school year to make Sum?mer U more attractive. “Sometime in the recent past, a decision was made at the administrative level to put the cost of summer tuition on par with the cost of tuition during the regular school year, something that not everyone in Continuing Education agreed with…” Ram said.”I am proud that our SGA, in partnership with Continuing Education, was able to do its part to keep the issue alive and well, and keep a little bit more money in students’ pockets,” Ram said.