As the semester comes to a close, some students anticipate returning home for a full month of relaxation — while others choose to remain in Binghamton for the winter session to load up on classes. Some students, however, have found a way to get the best of both worlds.

This winter session there are 23 online courses being offered that allow students to obtain much needed credit hours and still enjoy the holiday season at home with their families. With the exception of one three credit course, all of the classes are worth four credits.

“The class I’m taking fulfills an economics requirement,” said Bill Liatsis, a junior economics and political science major who is registered this winter semester for Economics 144: Economics of Poverty and Discrimination. “This was convenient because I don’t stay here over break.”

Since its introduction to the Binghamton University curriculum in the summer of 2003, the online courses have become increasingly popular with undergraduate students. While regular registration finished on Dec. 9, students can still sign up by paying a $30 late fee.

And, although the classes are taken in their entirety over the Internet, the cost still varies by residence: $181 per credit hour for in-state students and $442 for out-of-state students — the same as regular tuition.

“Student demand outstrips the ability to provide spaces in distance education,” said Murnal Abate, the assistant director for summer and winter sessions. “We’re always encouraging departments to come up with more distance education courses.”

This winter session, courses offered range from typical GenEd fillers like Philosophy 122D: Elementary Logic, which provides an M credit, to English 300M: America From Metropolis to Gotham City, that enables students to probe the inner psyches of their favorite super-heroes.

“I thought taking an online course over my break would be a good way to complete some requirements,” said sophomore economics and political science major Matt Calo, who registered for two online courses during the summer 2006 session. “I was planning on graduating early at that point and needed the extra credits.”

Abate believes the success of the classes has to do with the level of freedom and convenience it affords students.

“It allows students to take control of the way they obtain a degree,” he said. “If there’s a GenEd they need, they can get it in. Courses in the fall and spring often fill up, so it’s great that we can offer them online.”

Abate believes that the distance education trend will only increase in popularity in coming years.

“I don’t see the world completely moving in the direction of distance education … but it is growing and will be an important part of the way people educate themselves in the future,” he said. “This movement is driven by the students. They’re really so much savvier than we are and we’re just trying to meet the demand.”