A recent opinion column from the Badger Herald said year round classes would be an effective way for students to graduate on time and with more flexibility.

The University of Minnesota is testing out this idea by making two of its programs year-round. Students at Minnesota were given the opportunity to voice their opinions on year-round schooling by taking a survey given by the university.

It turns out that 50 percent of students supported the idea of continuous schooling.

Year-round class can help greatly with graduating on time and the availability of classes. However, students at UW-Eau Claire and students at many other universities already have this opportunity to take year-round classes by taking advantage of Winterim or summer classes.

That said, it would be a great way to graduate on time, but it would not be the most cost effective. Since three continuous years of classes is nine semesters instead of the usual eight that a four-year plan entails, in the end, it might not be the best choice for people who are worried about finances.

The opinion column said jobs are difficult to find in the summer partly because students go home to smaller towns that offer less than a college town does.

This is not always true. Many students who go to Eau Claire live in bigger cities such as Milwaukee.

Places also depend on students coming home during the summer to become part of the workforce again. A lot of cities run on college students and depend on them being available during the summer months that they have off.

If students had to take school year-round, businesses could suffer and so would students’ pocket books.

Being able to work three months out of the year is a way for some students to make money to be able to keep going back to school. Without these free months during the summer, it would be hard for some students to afford continued schooling.

Universities might be in danger of losing great professors because many of them use the summer months for academic study or sabbaticals. If professors do not have the time that they need to continue their studies, they might leave for a university where summer vacations are still in place.

A reason why year-round classes would be a good idea is professors would not have to spend time reviewing material for the first week of classes every semester.

This year-round plan is still in its early planning stages, so making any real concrete opinion is challenging. It may or may not work out; it will just need more time to develop.

Overall, if it does work out, students should have the option to either partake in the year-round classes or or not. It should not be required or mandatory for students because not everybody likes the idea of continuous schooling.