Academic Success Tip: Offer Short-Term Courses

Just under one in five students say courses offered on an eight-week, accelerated basis is one institutional effort that could increase their academic success, according to survey data from Inside Higher Ed’s 2024 Student Voice survey, conducted by Generation Lab.

A new report from Ad Astra found students who took eight-week courses were more likely to attempt higher annual credit loads, improving their time to degree and momentum. The report offers practical advice for college leaders looking to develop their institution’s short course offerings and considerations for student completion.

The background: Shorter course offerings, when available, are more common at two-year institutions or those geared toward older adult learners. If delivered at a four-year institution, short courses take place primarily in the winter or summer months in between academic terms.

The goal of a short course is not to compress 16 weeks of learning into half that time, but to reconstruct college units with a more concentrated learning goal.

Short courses have multiple benefits for the student experience. More frequent course offerings allow students flexibility in when they are taking classes and how many courses they’re enrolled in simultaneously. If students do not perform as well in the course, they’re able to recover more quickly and get back on track, as well.

Previous research from Ad Astra points to the value of student credit completion rates per year on overall credential completion. On average, students who complete fewer than 12 credit hours per term have a 50 percent completion rate, compared to their peers who complete at least 12 credits per year, 62 percent of whom complete, on average.

Students who completed at least one eight-week course were more likely to attempt more credits annually, compared to their peers who did not enroll in an eight-week course.

However, many institutions do not have all courses or program pathways available in eight-week blocks, which can create a barrier for some learners. Ad Astra’s study of 15 community colleges found 30 percent of students completed an eight-week course in the past year, but only 2 percent were able to take all their courses in the eight-week format.

Creating change: For institutional leaders who want to create shortened terms for students, Ad Astra offers some practical steps for getting started.

1. Identify goals. Colleges can increase enrollment, retention and completion if they structure their courses to serve student needs, but campus leaders must ensure the student experience in completing a program of study is at the forefront, not just bolstering popular courses.
2. Benchmark current offerings. Rather than reinventing the wheel, leaders should gauge their current offerings and how to build on those strategies. An internal analysis of current pathways can highlight overlapping requirements, allowing administrators to effectively target programs that could be shortened as a group of offerings.  

3. Establish pathways. To help students effectively complete their program of studies, institutional leaders should build guided pathways that highlight shortened course options. These pathways should also align with the term schedule, allowing students to complete courses sequentially, as noted in the pathway.
4. Determine the most effective completion paths. To maximize accessibility and availability for students, institutions must consider delivery modality, location and timing, among other factors. Ad Astra’s analysis found most in-person eight-week classes are concentrated over a few days in a given week or are unevenly distributed throughout the term (more in the first half than the second, for example), which just creates new barriers.  
5. Update scheduling grids. Short classes often meet for longer each class period compared to a traditional 16-week course, so meeting times may need to be adjusted to accommodate for these differences.  

6. Integrate campus partners. All changes should be communicated to the enrollment management and advising teams to ensure a smooth transition and set expectations for incoming and current students.
7. Monitor and assess for next steps. Campus leaders should track registration to ensure availability of courses as well as outcomes after the first term and academic year to gauge future strategies. 

If your student success program has a unique feature or twist, we’d like to know about it. Click here to submit.