Success Rates Higher For Shorter Term Classes

ASHEVILLE, N.C., Feb. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new initiative that allows students at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College to complete a semester-long course in as little as a month was the right fit for student Jayson Laws during the Fall 2011 semester.

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The four-week option meant he could enroll in college in November and complete a computer class with three hours of credit by December. "That class was amazing and perfect for the timeframe. I had daily hands-on instruction that drove the material home," he said.

Laws, who returned to school to study nursing as a career change, easily earned an A in his first college class in 15 years. "With 50-minute sessions, it feels like once a class really gets started, it's over. The extended sessions kept me from feeling pressured toward the end of the semester. It was extremely manageable," he said.

Building on the College's established eight-week classes, four-week courses were launched in January 2011 to give students greater scheduling flexibility and additional opportunities for success. A-B Tech's scheduling options also include nights, weekends, online and hybrid courses.

The compressed courses are particularly suited for working adults, single parents or students who have difficulty juggling multiple classes.

Participants in the four-week classes had a lower withdrawal rate and higher average grades than students in traditional 16-week classes during the Fall 2011 semester. In four-week classes, about 81 percent of the students earned a C or better compared to 74 percent of students in eight-week classes. In 16-week classes, the percentage was approximately 70. Nearly one-half of all four-week students earned an A.

The withdrawal rate for the four-week classes was 6.7 percent compared to 15.5 percent for the 16-week classes. The eight-week classes had a nearly 11 percent withdrawal rate. There were 240 enrollments for four-week classes taken during the fall and 3,680 in eight-week classes.

"Many community college students have out-of-class responsibilities that make it difficult for them to be successful when taking a full load of classes in a typical semester. The shorter class formats allow students to focus on one or two subjects at a time. Completing a class in four or eight weeks is not so daunting and allows these students to experience success quickly," said Melissa Quinley, Vice President of Instructional Services at A-B Tech.

"These new four-week classes mean students don't have to take more than one class at a time, and they don't have to make it through a full 16-week semester before they earn any credits," said A-B Tech President Hank Dunn.

The format allows students to immerse themselves in a single subject for four weeks. Each class contains the same content as a 16-week class and provides the same amount of credit.  If a student takes a single, three-credit-hour course for each of the four-week terms, he or she will have 12 hours of credit by the end of the semester, enough to meet the requirement for full-time status.

The scheduling allows students to concentrate on assignments, projects and tests without other classes competing for their time. "Research shows that students who focus on one class at a time retain more knowledge and tend to stay in college to accomplish their educational goal," Dunn said.

Four-week terms are scheduled to begin March 6 and April 10. An eight-week session begins March 6. For more information on A-B Tech's alternative class formats, visit abtech.edu.

SOURCE Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College