A record-breaking 12,128 students enrolled to take classes during UNLV's 2001 summer term and university officials point to a number of reasons why enrollment during the summer sessions has shown consistent growth for the past several years.

The summer term, which draws to a close Aug. 10, showed a 1.7 percent increase over last year's enrollment figure of 11,928 students. In 1999, there were 11,423 students that were enrolled in the summer term.

"The summer term is extremely popular with students," said Carrol Steedman, associate director of UNLV's summer term program. "For more than the past ten years we've seen a consistent pattern of growth in the number of people attending the summer sessions."

Steedman said that many of the students who enroll in the summer term are eligible high school juniors and seniors, or recent high school graduates, who are getting a jumpstart on their college education by taking summer courses.

In addition, college students from other universities who are home for the summer often will take summer classes at UNLV that will transfer toward the completion of their degrees.

While they contain the same content as the fall or spring semester courses, the summer courses are designed to move at a faster pace, Steedman said, which also makes them popular with professional people who are looking to take classes.

"More than 95 percent of our UNLV graduates take summer courses," Steedman said.

In addition, the summer term is when UNLV normally offers special institutes and travel-abroad programs. For example, this summer students and faculty from the College of Fine Arts are performing in the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, which is the world's largest arts festival.

UNLV's summer term is broken into three separate sessions. Session one lasts for three weeks. Sessions two and three last five weeks.

For more information about UNLV's summer term sessions, call 895-3711.