While students may be surprised by the lack of on-campus activity during January, enrollment numbers show that this January Term isn’t much different from years past.

Fred Capuzzi, an Information Systems Specialist in the registrar’s office, said this J-Term is pretty typical in terms of enrollment, both on-campus and abroad.

According to his numbers, 1,407 undergraduate students are taking classes on-campus this J-Term, only about a quarter of the total number of students enrolled this past fall.

The International Education Center said there are 563 students participating in study-abroad programs this J-Term.

Another 66 students are participating in VISION service programs outside of the United States.

This leaves 3,659 enrolled St. Thomas students who aren’t taking a J-Term at all, Capuzzi said.

Freshman Brady Hall resident Anthony Kasper said he’s taking a class on-campus this year, but goes home on the weekends because “there’s really not anything going on.”

“In the middle of the afternoon, you can see a few people out and about but it’s nothing like during the regular semester,” Kasper said. “If this school was only that big all year round, I wouldn’t go here. It’d be hard to take it.”

Eddy Rathke, a senior and student worker at the Grill, said it’s been a quiet J-Term on-campus and in the Grill.

“It’s super quiet. After one o’clock there’s almost no one here,” Rathke said. “It’s pretty weird being on campus because it’s kind of a ghost town. There’s no one around … It’s a strange time of year.”

Brent Fischer can be reached at bafischer@stthomas.edu