Course Scheduling: An Overlooked But Valuable Tool
A 2022 Ad Astra survey found that only 55% of higher education institutions use a centralized approach to scheduling. This represents a significant oversight since course scheduling is vital in guiding students along their degree journeys and supporting their progress.
If institutions are to achieve positive student outcomes, such as faster time to degree completion and higher graduation rates, they must understand the importance of effective course scheduling. This is where our article comes in handy. Throughout this article, we’ll examine the role of course scheduling, explore how it promotes positive student outcomes, and consider the results institutions achieve with streamlined, student-centric scheduling.
The Role Of Course Scheduling In Student Success
Effective course scheduling promotes positive student outcomes by enabling students to progress through and complete their degree programs. When students can access the courses they need when they need them, they’re more likely to persist through college and graduate on time instead of falling behind or dropping out.
Furthermore, intentional course scheduling helps students balance their studies, work, and other responsibilities. This ensures they maintain a manageable workload and avoid stress, leading to stronger academic performance, better engagement, and higher student satisfaction.
Despite the benefits of student-centric scheduling, many universities fail to consider students’ needs when building a class schedule. Instead, they prioritize the preferences of faculty members. According to a survey of 340 institutions that was conducted by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions (AACRAO) and Coursedog, 89% percent of respondents selected “faculty availability” and 78% selected “faculty preference” as factors they used to build an undergraduate class schedule.
The lack of student-centric scheduling in higher education represents a critical issue. Not only does it harm institutional success, it hinders student outcomes in a number of ways.
How Scheduling Challenges Impact Student Outcomes
According to Tom Shaver, founder and CEO of course scheduling software company Ad Astra, flawed course schedules “inadvertently block students’ access to the courses they need to graduate during the times and via the modalities that work in their busy lives.” As a result of failing to complete their degree program in a timely fashion, students may take on additional loans to cover the costs of extended enrollment. Or, they might abandon their program entirely, which could lead to lower employability, diminished earning potential, decreased quality of life, and other unfavorable outcomes.
To reduce attrition as well as the adverse long-term outcomes associated with it, institutions must understand the root causes of scheduling challenges. As noted in Coursedog’s “Scheduling for Student Success: New Considerations and Practices” webinar, the most common culprit is institutions’ reliance on manual data entry.
Manual data entry often leads to class conflicts, leaving students scrambling to find new courses or at risk of not completing their program on time. It also creates dual grading and variable unit errors, which can impact student progression and financial aid.
4 Ways Effective Course Scheduling Promotes Student Success
When done effectively, course scheduling can expand course access, boost student persistence, reduce time to degree completion, and support student performance and well-being. Read on to learn more about each of these benefits.
1. Expanding Access To Essential Courses
Ensuring students have access to the courses they need to complete their program allows them to progress seamlessly through their degree track. Additionally, having accessible courses means students can acquire the required number of credits outlined by their institution.
This is crucial since the number of credits students take in their first year often predicts whether they’ll graduate on time. In fact, according to a 2024 Ad Astra benchmark survey, students completing 18 to 23 credit hours per year are twice as likely to be retained and 7 times more likely to graduate than students completing 11 credits or fewer per year.
For that reason, institutions should improve their course accessibility. They can achieve this in a few ways, including offering courses at flexible times and in different learning modalities. For example, employed students might benefit from evening classes and online course offerings.
When designing course schedules, institutions should also account for the unique challenges faced by diverse student groups. For instance, students with disabilities might find it easier to navigate between buildings if their classes aren’t scheduled back-to-back. Likewise, low-income students might prefer schedules aligned with the availability of on-campus services such as tutoring.
2. Improving Student Persistence
A smooth scheduling process ensures students enroll in the right classes at the right time, keeping them on the path to completion. In fact, according to a Civitas Learning analysis of 15 partner institutions, simplifying the scheduling experience improved student persistence rates by 5 to 7 percentage points.
Think of it this way. If students can build a schedule that balances their various commitments, helps them understand how specific courses support their degree goals, and allows them to access essential classes, they’ll find it easier to navigate and excel in college.
Students themselves agree that receiving more clarity on academic pathways—which effective scheduling supports—would aid their success. A recent Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse survey found that 26% of students believe their institution could best promote their academic success by creating or clarifying academic program maps and pathways.
3. Reducing Time To Degree Completion
According to Afet Dundar, former director of equity in research and analytics at the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, students will face challenges if they don’t complete their degree on time. “Students will continue to fall behind academically and financially by not completing college as soon as possible,” Dundar said in a statement. For example, they might run out of financial aid or incur additional debt due to prolonged enrollment in college. They could also become less motivated to finish college, ultimately hurting their academic performance.
Streamlined and student-centric scheduling reduces the chances of this happening by helping students complete their programs on time. According to the aforementioned AACRAO and Coursedog survey, this scheduling approach involves assessing student needs, using data to project those needs, and offering flexible course offerings to satisfy those needs.
The survey also reported that institutions that adopted scheduling software, which can promote student-centric scheduling, found that the software improved time to degree completion by 8%. Additionally, the software also improved graduation rates by 4%.
4. Promoting Student Performance And Well-Being
Research has found a significant association between course schedules and student performance. This makes sense as students who have optimal schedules catered to their various needs and obligations can focus on excelling in their studies instead of worrying about being late for work or attending class when childcare centers are closed.
A flexible schedule also supports student wellness. For example, the research study “Medical Student Mental Health 3.0: Improving Student Wellness Through Curricular Changes” found that efficient changes to scheduling, course content, and other curricular elements were associated with significantly lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.
Given that “balancing school with other obligations” was cited as the third biggest academic stressor for students—according to a 2023 Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse survey—it’s highly advantageous that institutions can mitigate this stress by helping students build their ideal schedules. Specifically, schedules that accommodate their multiple commitments as students, part-time employees, interns, athletes, caretakers, and more.
Case Studies: Two Universities Use Course Scheduling Software To Drive Student Success
To better understand how effective course scheduling improves student outcomes, let’s consider the case studies of Northern Arizona University and Texas A&M International University, two institutions that leveraged course scheduling software and achieved impressive results.
Northern Arizona University Reduces Scheduling Conflicts
Northern Arizona University (NAU)—a public research university in Flagstaff, Arizona—used an academic operations platform to reduce scheduling conflicts and support student progression. According to this platform’s case study on the institution, before their collaboration, NAU had been relying on legacy software and outdated practices like manual data entry. This led to scheduling conflicts like double-booked rooms, section relationship violations, and nonstandard meeting patterns, hindering students from progressing toward their degrees.
Frustrated with these barriers and their impact on student success, administrators at NAU began searching for a scheduling solution that fit their needs. “We wanted to give academic units the ability to input their changes and to build their classes into the system,” said Bonita Switala, NAU’s assistant director of operations. “But the challenge was ensuring that what they built followed our best practices and policies. That’s where [the platform] has proven to be vital for us.”
NAU leveraged the platform’s real-time rule validation capabilities to improve the institution’s scheduling experience and build a more student-centric schedule. Administrators at the university also worked with the platform to refine their scheduling processes and practices.
After a year of using the software, NAU reduced scheduling conflicts by 60%. Additionally, the university experienced a 14% reduction in overfilled sections, improving course access for students and accelerating their progress toward degree completion.
Texas A&M International University Reports Retention And Graduation Gains
After recognizing challenges in their registration process, leaders at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU)—a public institution in Laredo, Texas—began using a student success software and its scheduling capabilities. Ultimately, the university experienced a 1.1% increase in persistence lift, a 4% increase in retention, and a 5% increase in graduation rates.
The software’s case study on the university noted that TAMIU students initially struggled to find open courses that accommodated their academic and personal schedules. They also hadn’t been registering for the courses they needed or wanted. However, after TAMIU implemented the software’s scheduling solution (which they dubbed TAMIU SchEDUler) to address scheduling concerns and optimize the overall registration process, students were able to build schedules tailored to their unique circumstances.
The technology also allowed advisors to deliver more transformational—instead of transactional—support since students could now create a personalized schedule before meeting with advisors. As Juan Gilberto Garcia, TAMIU’s vice president for enrollment management, said in the case study: “Because [the software’s] scheduling capabilities streamline the registration process, course scheduling during advising sessions is faster—allowing more time for advisors to engage with the students on mission-focused topics like different degrees and faster graduation routes.”
The combination of personalized, conflict-free scheduling and student-centered advising ultimately translated into greater retention and graduation gains as students were able to build schedules that served their specific needs. Meanwhile, advisors had more time to work meaningfully with students and guide them successfully along their degree paths.
Achieving Better Outcomes With Smarter Scheduling
Course scheduling promotes student success in various ways. It expands course access so students can take the classes they need to graduate while balancing other commitments. Effective scheduling also improves student persistence, reduces time to degree completion, and supports student performance and well-being, ensuring students progress through their tracks.
With these benefits in mind, institutions can proceed to improve their scheduling practices and processes. This is where scheduling software proves vital. For instance, these solutions can create optimized student schedules, project course demand, prevent scheduling conflicts, and track graduation progress. Armed with these features, institutions can reduce barriers to success and keep students on the path to completion.
