Planning for spring? Consider a Summer Finish scholarship to complete your degree

Kerchia Asia Lee, of Menomonee Falls, Wis., needed 4 credits to complete her biology degree. With the help of a Summer Finish scholarship, she took Dance 100 and Counseling Psychology 230 in a four-week summer session and left UW–Madison in mid-June with her degree.

“I didn’t work my whole senior year, so I relied on my parents a lot for finances,” she says. “It was very important for me to get the scholarship, so they wouldn’t have to worry about paying my tuition.”

Kerchia Lee finished her UW–Madison biology degree last summer with the help of a $1,000 Summer Finish scholarship. Photo courtesy of Continuing Studies

This fall, Lee began her studies at the Medical College of Wisconsin Pharmacy School in Milwaukee.

Finishing her coursework was made possible by the $1,000 Summer Finish scholarship, designed to help students complete their degree requirements during the summer. As students close to graduation register for spring courses, they can talk to their advisors about graduating in a timely manner with Summer Finish.

“For participating students, it provides an opportunity for them to graduate earlier and more quickly move toward their post-college plans,” says Jen Walsh, assistant director for summer advising initiatives.

Brandon Arbuckle also received a Summer Finish scholarship.

Seated with his fellow graduates in Camp Randall Stadium at spring commencement, Arbuckle knew he had one loose end to tie up before leaving school. The journalism and history major from Lyndon Station, Wis., needed one more 4-credit, upper-level course in strategic communication to clinch the deal.

Brandoln Arbuckle needed one more 4-credit course for his degree, and the Summer Finish helped him get it. Photo courtesy of Continuing Studies

“I felt closure from commencement to a certain extent but getting to take this one additional class was a great epilogue to my education here at Madison,” says Arbuckle, who took an intensive, four-week course in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication taught by Ben Deutsch, a former vice president for corporate communications at The Coca-Cola Company.

It’s not too early to plan for summer. The Summer Term Course Search & Enroll Preview is available now. Students can use this preview to consider how Summer Term courses fit into their overall academic plan, and how summer courses can help them complete their degree.

“It was a huge help for me,” says Arbuckle, a first-generation college graduate. “Without that scholarship, I might have had to figure out a different way to finish and pay off the last few credits I needed.”

For more information on how to apply for the Summer Finish scholarship, visit: summer.wisc.edu/summer-finish.