Q: We have a question about what is the recommended percentage to offer for new classes and the acceptable rate of cancels for each session?
A: LERN recommends that you offer around 20% new classes each term and that you not exceed 30%. The reason is that new courses have a much higher cancellation rate than existing courses. New courses are unknowns, so you do not want to risk offering too many and having them fail. Cancellation rates for new courses may be 50% or higher.
Existing courses have much lower cancellation rates. Typically from less than 10% and often 0%. The reason, of course, is that you don't offer classes multiple times if they do not do well. Overall, you want to see a cancellation rate below 15%.