Background: Condensed courses, as opposed to semester-long courses, are an increasingly popular strategy to improve equity in higher education. With condensed courses, students focus on a smaller number of courses during seven- to ten-week terms (Gullatt, 2006; Zepeda & Mayers, 2006). Historically marginalized students may benefit because the shorter duration provides fewer opportunities for issues to arise that impede success (DeLuca et al., 2021). Condensed courses also provide students with more entry and exit points, which may be valuable for students who stop out and re-enter higher education. Research suggests improved academic performance in courses taught in shorter terms (Austin & Gustafson, 2006; Bannier, 2017; Bostwick et al., 2022; Brenner, 2024). Our study advances the literature by using administrative data from a system of community colleges and adding qualitative components that incorporate the perspectives of students, faculty, and staff. Research Questions: We explore two research questions: What is the effect of condensed courses on students' academic outcomes? How do students, faculty, and staff experience condensed courses? Setting: The quantitative analysis includes data from 13 community colleges in Tennessee. Tennessee's community colleges have expanded their condensed course enrollments from 3% in fall 2015 to 14% in fall 2022 (Figure 1). The qualitative work is underway at three community colleges: Chattanooga, Dyersburg, and Nashville. These colleges are diverse in size, locale, and student population and are at different stages of implementing 7-week courses. Chattanooga has led this effort, with more than 71% of enrollments in condensed courses in fall 2022, while Dyersburg and Nashville are in an earlier phase (Figure 1). Population/Participants: For the quantitative analysis, we apply sample restrictions (Table 1) to create an analytic dataset limited to enrollments in 7-week and 15-week courses (97% of total enrollments) at Tennessee's community colleges from fall 2015 through spring 2023. Our analytic dataset contains 3,069,639 enrollments in 182,793 course sections. For faculty and student interviews, we recruited participants who taught or took (respectively) one of the six highest-enrollment courses in a 7-week format in 2023-24. We completed 75 interviews with 45 students and 27 interviews with faculty. For our student survey, we recruited participants who took at least one of the six target courses in either 7 or 15 weeks. We received 326 responses from two surveys in fall 2023. In spring 2024, we received 622 responses from three surveys with one more planned. For staff interviews, we will limit recruitment to five departments that have been most affected by 7-week courses. Intervention: In Tennessee, condensed courses most often take the form of two 7-week terms that are embedded within the 15-week semester (Figure 2). Typically, the semester and the first 7-week term begin together, and there is a weeklong break between the first and second 7-week terms so the semester and the second 7-week term end together. This model allows students to focus on fewer courses at a time while earning the same number of credits by the end of the semester. Research Design: For the quantitative analyses, we use administrative data to perform descriptive analyses and apply quasi-experimental methods to rigorously evaluate the impact of 7-week courses on student outcomes. Quasi-experimental methods allow us to address two sources of selection bias: student selection into condensed courses and institution selection of condensed course offerings. The fixed effects allow us to better identify differences in outcomes that are directly attributable to 7-week courses. The qualitative components are designed to enhance our understanding of the quantitative results and explore potential mechanisms. For the student interviews and student survey, we recruited participants who had taken only 15-week courses, only 7-week courses, and both to allow for between-student comparisons; we also conducted multiple waves of the survey and interviews for within-student comparisons over time. We only interviewed faculty who had taught courses in both formats so that they could compare their experiences. These interview and survey data provide the depth and breadth needed to better understand 7-week courses. Data: We use administrative data from 13 community colleges. To examine outcomes at the student-by-course level, we use a model with fixed effects for institution, term, modality, and course plus student-level characteristics (Equation 1). To examine student-level outcomes, we use a model with (cohort × institution) fixed effects and student-level characteristics (Equation 2). We will continue to explore other empirical approaches (e.g., difference-in-differences, instrumental variable) that provide more credible causal estimates. Student, faculty, and staff interview transcripts will be analyzed and coded to identify key themes. Student survey data will be analyzed to provide descriptive evidence about time allocation, workload, and course preferences. The qualitative and quantitative findings will be integrated to provide a more complete evaluation of the impact of 7-week courses. Findings: Our quantitative analysis suggests improved outcomes in condensed courses: higher pass rates, lower withdrawal rates, and higher average grades (Table 2). Though we find improved outcomes for all subgroups, condensed courses have a smaller impact on Black students and a larger impact on adult learners and academically underprepared students (Table 3). We also find that outcomes are higher in the first 7-week term than in the second 7-week term (Table 4), which is likely attributable to the lower academic preparation of students in the second 7 weeks (Table 5). Results on longer-term outcomes like persistence and completion are forthcoming. Qualitative findings are preliminary. Student interviews suggest that student experience varies based on the number and type of condensed courses taken and that success in condensed courses depends on students' time management. The first two student surveys suggest that students feel condensed courses are more stressful, feel more rushed to complete required assignments, and are less comfortable connecting with peers. More findings from all qualitative components will be available later this year. Conclusions: The mixed methods design of this project enables us to provide a comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of condensed courses that describes whether they work, why, for whom, and in what contexts. We hope our study will provide timely and relevant information to academics, policymakers, and practitioners in Tennessee and beyond.