We investigate the effects of a flexible late policy on student performance submission behavior across two semesters of a lower-level required course (LL) and an upper-level elective (UL). The first semester late policies in both courses were strict: LL incorporated a 10% penalty per day for two days; UL rarely allowed late submissions. In each course, the late policy was relaxed in the second semester to provide two no-penalty late days for each assignment.

Our results show that in the LL class with the strict late policy, grades decrease each day past the deadline. When given two no-penalty late days, students in LL tended to submit their assignments later, with 41% of submissions coming after the deadline. While students’ homework scores were higher than their peers with the stricter policy (before penalties) on the first day after the deadline, their scores on the second day of submission were equivalent. With more late submissions, the overall homework scores in LL were lower with the no-penalty late days (controlling for late penalties). In contrast, students in UL submitting two days late in the second semester performed similarly to their peers in the first semester with the stricter penalty, while average scores for assignments submitted on (and around) the deadline improved dramatically. These results suggest that providing an extra day with no penalty is helpful for students, such as those making just-in-time submissions, but that additional days may lower performance overall for students in lower-level courses.