Complicated Lives,
Competing Priorities:

Students returning to colleges and universities post-pandemic are demanding higher flexibility in course modalities and schedules. The question of whether they’re finding success in these new approaches remains to be answered. In Complicated Lives, Competing Priorities: Reimagining the Course Schedule for Today’s Student, Ad Astra explores how institutions are not only adjusting their modalities and scheduling practices to meet the needs of today’s learners but also the way they measure the success of these changes.   

In this report, you’ll learn how:

• Student credit hour loads and statuses (full-time versus part-time) dropped in the wake of the pandemic.
• Drop/Fail/Withdrawal (DFW) rates serve as a strong indicator of course success by modality but are inconsistently used as key metrics for scheduling effectiveness.
• Institutions are balancing student-centricity with faculty needs when making course scheduling decisions.