Cornell University School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions

Cornell University’s School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions provides educational opportunities on the Cornell campus, online, and around the world during Summer Session, Winter Session, and throughout the academic year. Offerings include courses for undergraduates, programs for high school students, extramural study, professional programs, study tours for adults, and weeklong summer programs for adults, youth, and families on the Cornell campus.

In 1876, eight years after its founding, Cornell University offered its first summer programs in botany, chemistry, drawing, entomology, geology, and zoology.

Cornell University Summer Session (historically known as Summer Courses, the Summer Term, or the Summer School) was formally established in 1892—one of the earliest such programs in the United States.

In 1898, Dr. Charles DeGarmo, the former president of Swarthmore College, joined Cornell as a “Professor of the Science and Art of Education.” He was later appointed the first dean of the faculty of the Summer Session.

Later that year, became the first woman to hold a professorial rank at Cornell when she was named assistant professor of nature study in the Summer School.

Public lectures, readings, and recitals were offered in the summer as early as 1905 (speakers included Andrew Dickson White) and 1906 and continue today as Cornell’s free summer events series, featuring weekly performances at the Center for Performing Arts, outdoor concerts, and a lecture series (introduced now, as in the early 1900s, by the Summer Session director).

In 1935, the Cornell University Board of Trustees, in response to a report about the “desirability of having extramural courses offered for credit by Cornell University,” approved the establishment of such courses. This marked the beginning of the Division of Extramural Courses, which later became part of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions.

In 1958, the Cornell University Board of Trustees appointed William A. Smith, professor of education, as director of the Division of Summer Session, Extramural Courses and Part-time Study, marking the uniting of these programs under one director.

In the 1950s, Cornell offered its first programs for high school students. In 1958, Cornell Professor Walter Pauk launched the High School Reading Improvement Program, inviting high school juniors and seniors to Cornell during the summer to “develop the reading skills and study techniques which will bring them success in college.” This program grew into what is now known as Cornell University Summer College Programs for High School Students.

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Wikipedia