A new national initiative is reshaping how community colleges structure their academic calendars to better serve today’s students. Achieving the Dream (ATD), a nonprofit network focused on advancing community college student success, has announced the launch of the Scaling Shortened Academic Terms Initiative — a five-year effort to help colleges and state systems expand eight-week or similarly condensed academic schedules.
The program, supported by funding from the Ascendium Education Group, includes 16 community colleges across Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. Each participating institution has already taken steps toward implementing shortened academic terms, and this initiative will help them strengthen and scale those efforts.
Traditional 15-week semesters, ATD notes, often pose challenges for students juggling work, family, and school. In contrast, shorter terms allow students to concentrate on fewer classes at once, accelerate degree completion, and maintain momentum. Evidence suggests that such models can increase course completion rates and persistence while improving overall student engagement.
Karen A. Stout, EdD, ATD’s president and CEO, emphasized that the initiative is about more than scheduling reform. “We know that compressing time to degree and optimizing the delivery of our schedules, based on student needs, is essential as the field moves from completion to student economic and social mobility as our north star,” Stout said. “By working with states and institutions already leading this change, we can scale structures that help students—especially adults and working learners—build momentum and achieve their goals.”
Participating institutions will receive coaching, professional development, and opportunities for cross-state collaboration, all aimed at embedding shortened-term models sustainably. The effort also includes a comprehensive evaluation by the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University, to measure outcomes and identify best practices.
The findings from this initiative could shape a national model for helping community colleges adapt to the evolving realities of higher education and workforce development.
