Grasp All, Lose All: The Impact of Multiple Enrollments and Above-Full-Time Study Loads on Course Completion

Previous research has given scant attention to the issue of multiple concurrent enrollments, which can hinder persistence when resulting in a study load exceeding full-time study. Heavy study loads can challenge students’ time management skills and disrupt their self-regulated learning processes. This register-based study analyzed the enrollment patterns of 778 undergraduate students taking full-time foreign language courses at a large urban Swedish university, of whom 26% were simultaneously enrolled in additional courses and had therefore an above-normal study load. These multiple enrollments significantly reduced the odds of course completion (by 57%). However, students’ ability to manage above-full-time study loads varied. The findings have implications for theory, policy, and practice, emphasizing the need to consider multiple enrollments as a risk factor for non-completion in persistence models. Several hypotheses regarding the pathways through which heavy study loads contribute to course non-completion are proposed and warrant further exploration in future research.