Scaling Shortened Academic Terms is a national initiative to support community colleges in scaling shortened academic terms — such as eight-week semesters or quarters — as a strategy to improve student outcomes and align academic structures with the needs of today’s learners.
Launching in 2025 (see announcement), the initiative will support 16 colleges across four U.S. states that are already progressing toward the adoption of shortened academic terms. With a focus on scaling these efforts, the initiative is designed to help institutions take their work to the next level — redesigning academic calendars to expand access to shorter terms. Through targeted coaching, professional development, cross-state learning, and data-informed decision-making, ATD supports colleges in embedding and sustaining these structures in ways that enhance student momentum and credential attainment, particularly for adult learners and working students.
This initiative is funded by Ascendium Education Group. A complementary grant from Ascendium to the Community College Research Center will support a comprehensive external evaluation of the work.
Why It Matters
Traditional 15-week semesters often create barriers for students balancing college with work, family, and other responsibilities. Shortened academic terms offer a flexible, high-impact alternative that enables students to focus on fewer courses at a time, complete credentials more quickly, and stay on track to meet their goals.
Research and experience suggest that well-designed short-term structures can increase course completion rates, boost student confidence, and promote persistence. Yet, implementing these models at scale requires thoughtful planning, robust student supports, and strong alignment with institutional goals. The Scaling Shortened Academic Terms initiative tackles these challenges by building institutional and system-level capacity to design, implement, and sustain shortened terms in ways that support long-term student success. The initiative also provides an opportunity for continued evidence building to further demonstrate the value of this reform, which student populations benefit most, and which state- and institution-level conditions support scaled implementation.
Key Goals
- Build institutional capacity for colleges to implement and sustain shortened terms through coaching, workshops, webinars, peer learning, and other professional development.
- Ensure alignment with broader strategic goals by helping states and systems integrate shortened terms into their long-term student success strategies.
- Strengthen data collection and evaluation efforts by training institutions to use standardized templates to assess implementation progress and student outcomes.
- Foster communities of practice within and across systems to share lessons learned, address challenges, and amplify promising practices.
- Ensure colleges have the instructional and student support capacity necessary to serve learners effectively.
- Disseminate insights and resources across the higher education field to inform future reform efforts and encourage replication of effective models.