LEXINGTON, Ky. — Many colleges and universities nationwide, and in the bluegrass state, are looking at ways to give students more options to expand their college experience.

The start of Transylvania University's fall semester is like most schools: anything but normal.

This year, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Transy is now offering the Pioneer Plus initiative to its current full-time students. The initiative is meant to provide students with several options so students can make decisions that best fit their situation.

"We think that by empowering all of these individual decisions, we can build hopefully a greater community responsibility and sense of community, so that we can hopefully stay on campus, stay in-person,” said Megan Moloney, vice president for marketing and communications at Transy.

One of the new options this year is Transy Plus One which allows students to receive a fifth year on campus tuition-free.

“Whether they want to add a major, whether they want to take advantage of things like internships or study abroad, which they haven't been able to do right now because of the pandemic. We're going to give them that opportunity to do that on this under the umbrella of still being in college that fifth year,” explained Moloney.

For students who have classes that are only available online with no in-person or hybrid offerings, the Transy Plus summer option gives students the opportunity to take a summer class on campus free of charge.

“We are wanting to make sure they are getting to take classes they want to, but if their faculty member has said, 'I'm only offering my classes online,' we want to give them that choice to have that on-campus experience,” added Moloney.

Current students who are interested in taking a gap year from Transy can do so as well by participating in the Pioneer Pledge Plus option.

“If you just decide that you’re not up for classes, for example, this year, take a leave of absence from your studies, we’re going to guarantee that when you come back, you’re paying the same tuition that you would have paid this year. This is something that changes every year, so we’re going to guarantee that that’s the case,” mentioned Moloney.

The fall academic semester for students at Transylvania starts Monday, Aug. 24.