Before you ever sign your student up for a dual enrollment course, the very first thing to look for is whether the course says “synchronous” or “asynchronous” in the description. A quick explanation.
TRUE STORY: A college in California wanted to work with Homeschooling for College Credit and offer asynchronous classes (yeah!) at a huge discount (double-yeah!!), but as I started talking with them, it quickly fell apart. These classes were only held in the evening – something that served their local adult population well. Given the time zones and synchronous attendance requirements, our East Coast students would have to start class at 10 pm several nights per week. Needless to say, that is a crazy and unrealistic expectation for high school students, and I politely declined.
Synchronous
One of the biggest factors for setting a schedule is whether or not your student has to literally “be” in class at a specific time. This can be an on-campus requirement (class meets at main campus on M-W-F from 10 am-11 am) or an online requirement (class meets via Zoom on Monday and Wednesday from 10 am Eastern – 11 am Eastern). If either of these situations is true, the class is called “synchronous” and means that syn (together) and chronos (time), specifically the time your student needs to be there.
All synchronous classes take priority when setting your homeschool schedule. These courses should be hard-planned into your teen’s program because these are inflexible and set the minimum commitment required. Synchronous classes assume your student will also do work outside of class, so to emphasize, this is the minimum.
Asynchrounous
Asynchronous is without being together at a specific time. Online courses can be asynchronous, synchronous, or a hybrid. Asynchronous sessions give you full autonomy over when your student does their schoolwork. For disciplined students, this is a highly desirable option because students can work faster or slower, or they may choose to “chunk” their work into a few intense sessions during the week.
Without question, the overwhelming majority of online classes in 2026 are asynchronous. This is so true, that we often schedule online classes under the assumption that they are asynchronous. As students are asking for more interaction and engagement, smaller colleges and responsive programs have started bringing more asynchronous options to students; as a result, always check in advance whether or not your student will be required to attend at a specific time, and if so, that the time zone matches your goals.
