CHLOE SANDERS
Contributing Writer

Many students have probably been faced with the issue of summer tuition here at Piedmont, which stopped or hindered their opportunities to get in extra necessary hours during the summer or even to complete those career-building internships.

Many of the scholarships students get as full-time, residential students are not available to students during the summer semester, making it difficult or impossible for some students to take summer classes.

This will no longer be an issue, as Piedmont is introducing the new STEP program. The STEP program, or the Summer Tuition Enhancement Program, gives students the ability to bank credit hours during the fall and spring semesters that they can now use during the summer semester without having to pay any more for tuition, according to an email sent by President James Mellichamp.

This is a great opportunity for students, giving them the ability to take lesser loads in the fall and spring but still keep up with their hours in order to graduate on time. According to the email sent by Mellichamp, since a full-time student can take 12 to 15 hours per semester, any extra hours unused will roll over for the student to be able to use them for free in the summer.

Under the STEP program, if a student takes 15 hours in the fall semester and 15 hours during the spring semester, they will have six hours in the summer that they have banked to take classes, free of charge. This program works for any classes other than Maymesters, graduate course and certain Nursing and Cardiovascular Technology classes.

This program will still be a great opportunity for many students to take summer classes or internships without the extra costs of tuition.

For more information on this program, visit www.piedmont.edu/step.