Over time, courses have become concentrated during peak times during the week, usually Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. That’s natural, because these are often the most convenient times to stack classes and then head off to work, a research lab or extracurriculars.

The problem with this schedule is that it impacts student success. It’s a struggle to find enough classroom space, which means many required courses only offer one section per semester—and all these one-section courses are often offered at the exact same time. That delays graduation and adds to student debt, and fewer course options makes balancing work or family commitments harder. By spreading classes more evenly across the week, we reduce conflicts and give students more scheduling flexibility.

With a growing student body all trying to get into limited course offerings, this “stacking” can lead to bottlenecks—meaning certain required courses are offered only once a semester or once a year. Unfortunately, that often means that many students must stay in school longer to complete their degrees. If we spread out the schedule, we can offer more sections of courses on a more regular basis—so you’ll be able to take the classes you need each semester.

Of course! This scheduling project does not impose any limits, and students retain complete control over when and what courses they take.

For example, during the Spring 2025 semester, the university offered just over 3,500 courses—approximately 1,900 were scheduled during prime times and 1,600 were during off-peak times. If this change had been implemented during that semester, approximately 5% of courses, or a few hundred classes, would have shifted to non-prime times.

The guidelines only affect how departments spread out their course offerings and not how individual students build schedules. The goal is to create more options for you, not fewer.

No, not unless you want to. University academic affairs planners do not expect any significant increase in classes after 4 p.m. There will be more classes scheduled on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, and more course offerings in the afternoon. However, you should not expect to take night classes unless that’s something you were already interested in. We’re simply spreading things out so that you can find an equal number of courses every day between Monday and Friday rather than having them all on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

No. The plan is focused on when classes are scheduled, not on student life activities. Rehearsals, practices and other events should continue as normal.

No. It's true that when all courses take place in the same narrow window of time, that places stress on infrastructure (including parking). The real driver is student success. Better scheduling helps students complete their degrees on time, which reduces tuition costs and allows them to enter the workforce sooner.

New guidelines will be phased in beginning with the Spring 2026 semester. An updated course catalogue will be posted online on September 22.

For Spring 2026, departments have been asked to distribute their course schedules more evenly throughout the day. No more than 50% of classes will be scheduled during primetime hours. The other half of a department’s courses can be scheduled outside of peak hours. By Fall 2026 the departmental scheduling guidelines will further optimize the schedule to take advantage of Monday-Wednesday and Tuesday-Thursday time slots.

Students still will be able to choose which courses are most convenient for their work, extracurricular and home life schedules. But these changes will ensure that they have more options.