How do Aspen's eight-week courses work?
Aspen courses run eight weeks with designated assignments due throughout, and new courses begin on alternating Tuesdays each month. Discussion boards are part of the classroom experience rather than optional, and final grades post within seven business days of a course ending.
The weekly rhythm
Coursework lives in the online classroom at classroom.aspen.edu, which runs on D2L Brightspace and is a different system from the student portal at my.aspen.edu where your records and payments sit.
A typical week means readings, an assignment or milestone, and discussion posting with replies to peers. The posting is the part people underestimate, because it cannot be batched into a single sitting at the end.
What eight weeks changes
Compression. In a sixteen-week semester a difficult fortnight is an eighth of the course. In eight weeks it is a quarter, and there is far less room to recover.
The upside is that a bad course is over quickly, and the frequent start dates mean very little waiting between them.
Common questions
How long is an Aspen course?
Eight weeks, with assignments due throughout rather than only at the end.
When do Aspen courses start?
On alternating Tuesdays each month, so start dates come round frequently.
How quickly do Aspen grades come back?
Aspen states you receive a final course grade within seven business days of the course ending.