AASCU Expands a Proven Fix for a Hidden Barrier to Graduation: The Course Schedule

Contact:
Kellee Edmonds
(202) 478-4662
edmondsk@aascu.org

NEW ORLEANS, July 16, 2026—The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) today announced the Student-Centered Course Scheduling Accelerator, expanding its course scheduling work to 12 additional institutions through a faster-moving program designed to help more campuses advance this work effectively and efficiently. The Accelerator is funded by Lumina Foundation, with additional support from the Gates Foundation. AASCU unveiled the program at its 2026 Summer Meeting for Academic and Student Affairs Leaders.

Participating institutions will receive technical assistance from Ad Astra along with tools, data, and peer learning to help campuses reduce conflicts between required courses, schedule classes that fit students’ lives, consider challenging course combinations, and align offerings with student demand. The Accelerator offers a streamlined on-ramp, giving institutions a faster way to put proven strategies to work.

“We’ve seen what happens when institutions treat the course schedule as a student success strategy rather than an administrative routine: more students finish, spending less time and money along the way,” said Terry Brown, vice president for academic innovation and transformation at AASCU. “This program lets more campuses begin that work alongside peers who are already seeing results.”

The 12 institutions joining the Accelerator are:

• Adams State University (CO)
• California State University, Chico
• East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania
• Harris-Stowe State University (MO)
• Indiana University Southeast
• Middle Georgia State University
• SUNY Geneseo
• SUNY Oswego
• Texas A&M University-Kingsville
• Texas A&M International University
• University of Northern Colorado
• University of South Carolina Upstate

The Accelerator builds on the results AASCU has already demonstrated. An earlier 11-institution pilot (2023–2025), funded by Ascendium Education Group, produced a 12% increase in students completing first-year English and math courses and a 1.4-credit increase in average productive credits earned per student annually—an 8.1% improvement that measurably speeds progress toward on-time graduation. Those results led AASCU to launch a 20-institution cohort in 2025, also funded by Ascendium and now underway. The Accelerator extends the same student-centered approach to a new group of campuses.

“Designing course schedules to reduce friction in the student journey is a success imperative,” said Wayne Taliaferro, strategy director at Lumina. “When colleges build schedules around students’ lives and learning needs, more of them graduate with fewer derailments, enabling them to earn the credentials they need and that today’s economy demands.”

Each new group of campuses builds the same case: when the schedule is designed around students, more of them finish.

About AASCU: The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association that represents the sector of over 500 regional public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to serving today’s students, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development. These are institutions delivering America’s promise.

About Lumina Foundation: Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. We envision higher learning that is easy to navigate, delivers fair results, and meets the nation’s talent needs through a broad range of credentials. We work toward a system that prepares people for informed citizenship and success in a global economy.

About Ascendium Education Group: Ascendium Education Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to helping people reach the education and career goals that matter to them. Ascendium invests in initiatives designed to increase the number of students from low-income backgrounds who complete postsecondary degrees, certificates and workforce training programs, with an emphasis on first-generation students, incarcerated adults, rural community members, students of color and veterans. Ascendium’s work identifies, validates and expands best practices to promote large-scale change at the institutional, system and state levels, with the intention of elevating opportunity for all. For more information, visit https://www.ascendiumphilanthropy.org

About Ad Astra: Ad Astra, the industry leader in higher education scheduling software solutions, partners with more than 500 colleges, universities, and systems worldwide. Based in Overland Park, Kansas, Ad Astra offers data-informed software and professional services that help institutions effectively allocate space and faculty resources, forecast student demand, and accelerate student completions. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company currently holds a United States patent for its innovative method of determining student demand for academic courses. Academic institutions that partner with Ad Astra experience improved stewardship of instructional resources, streamlined student access to courses, and accelerated student completions. Ad Astra was the 2018 recipient of the Complete College of America Seal of Approval for Structure. Learn more at aais.com and follow us @AdAstraIS or on LinkedIn.