Abstract

With the rapid changes and evolving student needs in higher education, educational institutions must adapt to the shifts in the educational paradigms to serve students and remain competitive, especially when designing online courses with different durations. The efficacy of the eight-week online courses has been extensively investigated and compared to traditional full-term online courses, yielding mixed results. This study examined the statistical differences in student success and withdrawal rates among college students in accelerated eight-week online English courses and full-term sixteen-week online English courses. In light of the Self-Determination Theory, using quantitative methods, the results indicated higher student success rates and lower withdrawal rates in accelerated online English courses compared to full-term online English courses. Based on data-derived conclusions, further investigations are needed to explore the impact of teaching methods and styles, course design elements, external and demographic factors, and students’ lived experiences on student academic achievement in accelerated online courses.