5 Reasons Why Your Students Aren’t Completing Your Online Course

Did you know the average online course completion rate is 5-15%? It’s true, so if your students aren’t making it to your last module, you’re not alone.

Still, just because the average completion rate is low doesn’t mean yours should be. This study considered traditional, academic courses through public and private education avenues — not from business owners who truly care about your student’s outcome (like you).

The first step in fixing a problem (your students not completing your course) is finding the cause of said problem (the reason WHY your students aren’t completing your online course), so that’s exactly what we’ll do.

Why is Your Course Completion Rate So Low?

The root of every reason your course completion rate is so low is that you were taught how to create a course by marketers — not educators.

While marketing your course is important in selling your course, creating a course optimized for learning is vital in providing the best experience for your students (and having a high course completion rate).

That’s not all, though; there are a few more reasons why your students aren’t completing your online course:

#1. Lack of Structure

Both in how your course is presented and how your information is organized. If you don’t have a clear structure of information. Oftentimes, experts skip past the basics and/or over-explain pieces of content that aren’t relevant to the action items you want students to be able to complete — for example, if the question is “Idea A * Idea B = Idea AB” then you’ve shared what A and B are separately BEFORE introducing AB.

A lack of structure can also confuse your students when they attempt to navigate your course — and a confused student doesn’t continue.

#2. Missing Assessments

Figuring out what is working (and what’s not) in your online course is key. It helps keep your course the best in the industry and makes your students feel supported. How do you get the feedback you need? Assessments! 

If you have a low course completion rate, you’re likely missing assessments before, after, and even in your course (depending on the size).

#3. It’s Not Built for Learning

You are the expert — you know how to get results, you know the steps to get there — but being an expert doesn’t mean you know how to teach. Teaching is a skill required in addition to being a pro in your zone of genius. 

Just like any other skill, it takes practice and learning to teach your students effectively. A low completion rate can stem from your students not being able to learn (and retain) the information you give.

A common example of this is when you dump everything you’ve ever learned into your online course, and then your curriculum is massively overwhelming for your students — with very few pieces of information that are actually helpful. 

Remember, you’re creating a roadmap, not an encyclopedia.

#4. You Didn’t Focus on the Outcomes

There are a lot of reasons why you created your course — and I’m sure one of those reasons was to scale your income. But, when it comes to course creation, you want to focus on scaling your income and IMPACT.

Scaling your impact means you’re also invested in the outcome of your student and the transformation they’ll experience after completing your course (and not just the income you’ll earn from selling it).

#5. No Clear Curriculum

As a professional educator, I’ve seen the most common reason for low course completion rates: a lack of a clear curriculum. You were so excited to create and launch a course that you skipped over the most important part — what your course actually includes and teaches.

Curriculum is the next step in course development after ideation (yes, even before designing your slide decks and setting up your sales page).

How to Improve Your Course Completion Rates and Help Your Students Get Better Outcomes 

If you want to improve your course completion rates and help more students finish your course (and get better outcomes), the first step is to audit your course. An audit, even a self-audit, involves looking through your course material and identifying areas that need improvement.

Look at the students who haven’t completed your course — where are they stopping? Where are they dropping off? Once you notice the trend, look at that section in your course.

If you’re not sure where to look for this information, DM me on Instagram and I can help you find your analytics! This will help you determine if you need to change the curriculum, structure, or add support. 

Add in assessments to gauge how your students are doing and feeling in between modules or lessons, and look at your content as a teacher and an industry expert.

If you need expert eyes or extra support, reach out to Entrepreneur, Academic and book your done-for-you Course Audit and have a dedicated learning specialist audit how to improve your online course so you can start making evergreen sales like yesterday -> Book your Audit.