University of Otago summer school director Dr Elaine Webster said 1780 students, up 5% on last year, would attend the 17th annual school.
International student enrolments were also up and 150 students, up 10% on 2015, would travel to the university from around the world to take Otago papers.
International students predominantly came from the United States and China, and about 30 students from Australia would attend the school, Dr Webster said.
By taking papers at the school, students could gain credit for courses in six weeks of study, rather than 13 weeks required to complete comparable papers in semester one and two.
While summer school was an opportunity for some students to complete their degrees faster, others used it as an opportunity to study outside their normal field, she said.
"They are students giving up their summer, though, so they do all tend to be students who are very well organised."
Fifty-six papers would be offered, ranging from an introductory course on Samoan language to the study of celebrity and selfie culture.
The most popular papers were a second-year forensic biology paper and a first-year paper on the chemical basis of biology and human health.
Both papers had 160 enrolments.
More than 100 academic staff were involved in the school, and today marked the beginning of the academic year, she said.
However, the ethos of summer would not be lost among the textbooks.
"We will have a big welcome on Wednesday, and every Wednesday lunchtime between 12-1pm we have no classes at all and we try to have food and activities."
Summer school exams would run from February 18-23.
Semester one starts on February 27.
