Some members of Notre Dame's Class of 2011 will end their four-year college careers by completing their final semester at Notre Dame as part-time students.
Assistant registrar Lora Spaulding said many seniors choose to become part-time students in order to save money on tuition.
"If it's a student's last semester and they need less than 12 credit hours to graduate, they can discuss the possibility of becoming part-time with their academic dean," Spaulding said. "We currently have 192 seniors enrolled as part-time, which in the grand scheme of things really isn't that many."
Spaulding said tuition for part-time students is based on the number of credit hours they are taking during the semester. This semester, part-time students will pay $1,642 per credit hour, she said.
According to Spaulding, seniors who enroll part-time are unable to live on campus, but still have student IDs and continue to have the same opportunities that full-time students have.
"Part-time students can still go to Rolfs and can still have a meal plan, if they choose to do so," she said.
Senior Allie Colaco, a biology major, said she is taking just one class as a part-time student this semester.
"I had the credits, so I figured I might as well save the money," she said.
As a part-time student, Colaco said she will fill up some of her free time by working in a lab and serving as a teaching assistant (TA) in undergraduate science classes.
Senior Kevin Ritt said he didn't initially plan on becoming a part-time student this semester.
"The idea of being part-time hadn't really occurred to me, but my parents asked if I would mind doing it to save them some money," Ritt said. "I have two brothers, one who just graduated, and one who is a sophomore in college, so the option of saving some cash was very appealing to them, and, frankly, the idea of only having one class didn't bother me too much either."
Ritt said he is especially looking forward to having more free time.
"I'm going to spend my time looking for a job after graduation, working out, and trying to hang out with my friends as much as possible before we all scatter after graduation," he said. "I also expect to be outrageously good at video games by the end of this semester."
