MTSU academic officials are wrapping a new present — in time for the holidays — for students wanting to study and earn college credit rather than taking a break.

For the first time, MTSU will be introducing a Winter Session term for students. Classes, with plenty of variety, will be available for students beginning Dec. 21 and ending Jan. 21, just before the spring semester.

Tyler Henson

All Winter Session classes will be online, with sport psychology, the judicial process, history of country music and principles of marketing just a sample of the dozens of course offerings.

“The Winter Session was developed to allow students an additional opportunity to take a class during the winter break and to possibly alleviate their workload for the rest of the spring semester,” said Tyler Henson, director of the MT One Stop in the Student Services and Admissions Center.

“The idea is to provide options and flexibility to students,” Henson added.

Winter Session courses are tied to the spring semester for purposes of tuition and fees, financial aid, academics and other considerations.

Students are limited to one Winter Session class for a maximum of four credit hours, but Winter Session credit hours are included in the overall number of hours students are allowed to take in the spring semester — 18 hours for undergraduates and 12 hours for graduate students.

Financial aid is available because Winter Session is tied to the spring 2021 semester. Students who have financial aid in the spring semester can use it for the Winter Session.

Students who take Winter Session courses will be charged the full tuition rate for the class, regardless of how many hours they’re registered for in the spring semester. Those with questions should contact the MT One Stop for more information about tuition.

Students will be able to see the options when the spring 2021 schedule is released Oct. 9. They can register for Winter Session and spring classes during priority registration Nov. 2-13.

Anyone taking a Winter Session course must pay or confirm for the spring 2021 semester by 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17. If they don’t, the student’s entire spring schedule will be deleted, along with the Winter Session course.

Students who aren’t enrolled in a Winter Session course don’t have to pay or confirm for spring 2021 classes until Monday, Jan. 11.

The spring 2021 semester begins Monday, Jan. 25.

The MT One Stop provides combined services in the areas of financial aid, registration, tuition, billing and transcripts — a single location to assist students with all their enrollment needs.

It’s located on the second floor of the Student Services and Admissions Center, 1860 Blue Raider Drive.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)