pune d preetis wish to study abroad was realised when she enrolled for a threeweek course in politics and middle eastern studies at the prestigious oxford university uk in 2008unable to take a fulltime course she was nevertheless eager to undergo the cultural experience she spent time on campus learning from topoftheline faculty and mingling with an international crowd of students the summer course added weight to my resume and more importantly it allowed me to live and study abroad even though it was for a short while the lectures were often interactive and aided intellectual discussions as we were given the syllabus well in advance says preeti a journalism major the same year her friend zakia kazi did a summer course in communications at harvard university usa like my experience her educational stint abroad provided for selfenrichment in the form of greater exposure and interactions within and outside the classroom says preeti an increasing number of students and working professionals are now opting for summer courses spanning three weeks to a month at various educational hubs abroad students and professionals are eager to learn about summer courses because they want to brush up their knowledge in a short period its a faster and cheaper option for those not able to devote several months to a fulltime course professionals prefer to do such courses as it aids them in their careers and students gain much valueaddition by studying in a more practical manner than they normally would says education consultant balukeshwarnath agrawal the eligibility criteria vary from course to course he adds education consultant tm sathyanarayanan received around 20 enquiries this summer about shortterm courses which range from business and management to science and technology to liberal arts seven of the people who made these enquiries are readying to go to universities in the us and europe one sees an increased enthusiasm from parents too as they find these shortterm courses very convenient costeffective and useful for their wards the demand is mainly from middleclass families who cant afford to arrange finances for long term courses theres been an almost 35 per cent rise in the demand for summer courses in the last couple of years says sathyanarayanan who has also devised his own shortterm education exchange programme on indian business and economy for foreign students the focus on research especially in sciencerelated courses is one of the most important and valuable part of shortterm courses offered at european and american universities he observes the valueaddition is immense he says shortterm courses help students gain a more mature perspective and give them a smarter approach to academics and future career decisions also such courses add a lot of weight to a candidates resume he adds meera subramaniyam branch manager of an education consultancy sees a demand for courses in the creative arts like graphic designing and fine arts these are courses ranging from a couple of weeks to a few months and costing anywhere between a few hundred rupees to