Shortened college terms can improve student outcomes

To improve student outcomes, colleges and universities have shortened academic terms, condensing content and providing more flexibility for students to enroll in classes.

Research from Ad Astra finds students who take eight-week courses are more likely to attempt higher annual credit loads, which is tied to completion rates. Restructuring the academic calendar to provide these experiences, however, requires larger institutional investment and buy-in from across campus.

Setting the stage: Short courses last around eight weeks, or half of a traditional academic term. Several community colleges employ this strategy, and more institutions are considering implementing short terms, says Ad Astra president Sarah Collins. In a recent meeting with regional four-year public universities, around 50 institutions indicated they’re exploring shortened terms or different types of terms.

Ad Astra studied 15 community colleges and found 30 percent of students had completed an eight-week course, but only 2 percent were able to complete all of their courses in an eight-week format.

The pros: Short courses have a variety of benefits to the institution and students, including:

• Additional opportunities for enrollment. With shorter terms, there are more on-ramps for students to participate in higher education beyond the typical fall and spring semesters. This gives learners flexibility in the timing of their courses, as well.

• More narrow content focus. Typically, students who enroll in short courses take fewer credits per term, compared to a traditional 14-week term, allowing them to prioritize just those classes. “What we hear from students is the ability to focus just on two subjects, as opposed to taking four or five classes, is something that’s so important,” says Laura Hunter, vice president of solution strategy at Ad Astra.
• Chances for recovery. If students do not meet satisfactory academic expectations in a course, shorter courses allows them to recover in less time because they don’t have to wait up to 14 weeks.
• Appeal to nontraditional students. A May 2024 Student Voice survey from Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found one in five students believe their institution offering courses on an eight-week accelerated basis is among the most important actions administrators could take to increase their academic success. Students taking more than a typical course load (24 percent), online learners (23 percent) or those who work full-time (22 percent) were more likely to say this would improve their academic success.

The opportunities: Flipping the entire institution to an eight-week term schedule is “a big undertaking,” Hunter says, requiring operational work, as well as change management and pedagogical focuses. As colleges and universities create more opportunities for short terms, Ad Astra experts highlight areas for development and future focus to see the best outcomes.

• Program alignment. At present, many short course offerings are one-offs or not built into a sequence that allows students to complete their entire degree or certificate in the eight-week format. Part of this is due to shared governance and the role of faculty participation in building short courses, but it can create gaps in the student experience where it’s impossible to finish a major entirely in short courses, Collins says. Looking at programs in thematic ways, like metamajors, can be one way to ensure that the entirety of students’ programs are available in the short-course model.
• Student persistence. Current research from Ad Astra found, among colleges that offer 16-week and eight-week terms, students tend to perform worse in their second eight-week term compared to their first. Based on this data, Ad Astra sees opportunities for intentional retention and persistence strategies that are tied to student success, rather than just seeing the second term as an enrollment opportunity. Advising is one area to focus on, making sure students receive frequent support as they move through the shorter terms to track or coach them, Collins says.
• Pedagogy and teaching. Creating shorter terms requires course redesign to deliver content in an effective manner at a faster pace. Institutions can invest in faculty development to motivate and incentivize strategic decision-making on the part of instructors. “You can’t just condense the material. It does require a little bit more of informational design, instructional design,” Hunter says.

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This article has been updated to correct Laura Hunter’s name.