What Are Night Classes?

Night Classes Overview

Night classes, or evening classes, were originally designed to help non-traditional students attend courses and complete their degree programs. Night classes are beneficial for students who do not wish to attend classes during the day and for working parents who cannot attend daytime courses, although anyone can take night classes if they meet the prerequisites.

Night classes, like college day classes, are generally a semester long and offered in the fall, winter and summer. Special interest (i.e. hobbies, cooking and crafts) night classes may run for only a couple of weeks. Colleges, universities, community colleges, vocational institutes, junior colleges and adult high schools all offer night classes.

Students looking to attend class at night might not have the same range of courses to choose from as their daytime counterparts. Some schools rotate their courses, offering them as night classes one semester and day classes the next.

Apart from night classes, some schools offer programs for working professionals that meet both in the evening and on the weekends. These programs are offered more commonly for degrees where it is more likely that the student is working full time already, such as for nursing, education or law school.

Important Facts about Night Classes

What Are Classes Like?

Students who attend night classes tend to be older than their daytime counterparts, as they are more likely to already have jobs and families. Night classes are not graded or treated any differently than daytime classes and have the same credit hours. Many night classes are held just once per week for a longer time period (2-3 hours in duration), compared to daytime courses that are typically one hour long and meet 2-3 times a week.