Academy Cohorts Frequently Asked Questions

Below, you'll find a list of our most frequently asked questions about Academy cohorts.

• General Questions
• Permissions and Visibility
• Cohort Dates, Deadlines, and Time Zones
• Membership and Enrollment Behavior
• Archiving, Content Changes, and Completion

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General Questions

Do the Academy In-App reports have new columns for Cohorts?

Academy In-app reports in Degreed now include new columns with cohort details across three reports. 

Will Automations be set at the Academy or Cohort level?

Cohorts are not a supported object in Automations, so automation rules cannot be built based on cohort data.

Do all cohorts have the same branding?

Yes. Branding, like the Academy steps, applies to the Academy level. 

How does content timing work across cohorts?

Content visibility in a cohort depends on the cohort’s start date compared to when the content is added or deleted.  

Adding content  

When you add new content to an academy: 

• Content appears in cohorts with a start date on or after the date you add it. 
• Content does not appear in cohorts with a start date before the date you add it. 

This allows you to create a cohort and then immediately add content for that cohort on the same day.

Example: You create a cohort with a start date of March 1. You add a step on March 1. The step appears in that cohort. If you update a cohort’s start date to a future date, the cohort follows the same rule. Content added before the new start date appears in the cohort.  

Editing content  

When you update existing content (for example, a URL or metadata): 

• Updates apply to all learners across ended, active, and future cohorts. 
• Learners who already completed the content still see it marked as complete. 

Deleting content  

When you delete content from an academy: 

• Content is removed from cohorts with a start date after the date you delete it. 
• Content remains in cohorts with a start date on or before the deletion date. 

Example: A step is deleted on March 2. A cohort with a start date of March 1 still includes the step. A cohort with a start date of March 3 does not include the step.  

Add versus delete on the same day  

Content added and deleted on the same day follow different rules: 

• Add: Content added on the same day as a cohort’s start date appears in that cohort. 
• Delete: Content deleted on the same day as a cohort’s start date remains in that cohort and is only removed from cohorts with later start dates. This behavior ensures you can safely build and adjust content on the day a cohort begins without unintentionally removing it. 

Deleting content from Degreed  

If you delete content from Degreed, the content remains in the academy. 

Permissions and Visibility

Are permissions set at the Academy or Cohort level?

There are separate permissions for editing all cohorts, as well as specific permissions to review projects and view reports for individual cohorts.

Will participants see only members of their cohort in the People tab, or everyone in the Academy?

Participants will only see other users in their assigned cohort. 

Cohort Dates, Deadlines, and Time Zones

What start and end dates will be set for a migrated cohort?

Migrated cohorts will not have start or end dates set by default. Users with the Edit Academy permission can manually set these dates; however, the start date cannot be set in the past.

What are the impacts of the 12:00 AM UTC due date to learners?

All Academy and cohort due dates are set to 12:00 AM UTC to ensure consistent behavior across cohorts.

This means:

• The due date may appear at a different local time depending on the learner’s time zone
• All learners receive the same amount of time to complete content, regardless of location
• Learners cannot change their time zone within Academies at this time
• Due dates are labeled in the product as 12:00 AM (UTC) to reduce confusion

Using a fixed UTC time allows Degreed to:

• Keep cohort timelines consistent across regions
• Ensure reminders, automation, and reporting behave predictably
• Avoid issues caused by daylight savings or regional time zone changes
• Support global cohorts with a single, unambiguous deadline

Example

A company runs monthly onboarding and expects all new hires to complete the Academy within the same timeframe. The cohort ends on March 31 at 12:00 AM (UTC).

• Learners in all time zones see the same UTC deadline
• Everyone has the same amount of time to complete onboarding
• New hires complete onboarding together, regardless of location

This approach supports global programs while keeping timelines aligned and expectations clear.

Membership and Enrollment Behavior

Why does it matter whether a user is added to a cohort individually or through a group?

How a user is added determines how their cohort membership is managed and when they may be removed.

Individual adds reflect a deliberate admin action and are preserved even if a related group is later removed. Group-based adds are tied directly to the group and are removed if the group is removed or no longer eligible. 

Degreed tracks a membership source for each user to determine whether they were added individually or through a group. This ensures admin intent is respected and users are not removed unintentionally.

Examples

• If a user is added individually and later added through a group within the same cohort, their membership source remains Individual. 
• If a user is added individually to one cohort and later added to a different cohort through a group, a new membership is created. The user is removed from the original cohort, and the membership source in the new cohort is set to Group.

Archiving, Content Changes, and Completion

What happens when you archive a cohort?

When you archive a cohort, the academy becomes view-only for all members of that cohort. Learners can no longer submit or participate in assigned content or activities, but they can still access and view all content in the academy. Archived cohorts are preserved for reporting and record-keeping purposes and remain visible in the Cohorts list for admins to review at any time.

What happens when a cohort reaches its end date but is not archived?

When a cohort reaches its end date but has not been archived, learners can still complete content, submit assignments, and participate in discussions within the Academy. 

The end date controls reporting and timeline expectations, but it does not automatically make the Academy read-only. To prevent further participation and make the Academy view-only, the cohort must be archived.

Can learners still access content in an archived cohort?

Yes. Learners can continue to view all academy content, but they cannot complete activities, submit assignments, or make progress.

Does newly added content affect archived or ended cohorts?

No. New content added to an academy applies only to new cohorts. Archived cohorts do not receive new content. Ended cohorts that are not archived remain active and learners can still complete existing assigned content.

Can I replace content with a new version for a new cohort?

Yes. You can replace or update content for future cohorts. Content updates apply only forward and do not affect cohorts that have already ended or been archived.

Does new or updated content affect completion percentages for archived cohorts?

No. Completion percentages for archived or ended cohorts are not impacted by newly added or updated content.

How does new content impact completion percentages in reporting?

In the Academies reports, cohorts are not currently supported so completion data will not be accurate if new content is added.

Although the Degreed in-app reports for Academies include cohort-related columns, the underlying completion percentage calculations do not yet account for cohorts.

What happens to learner completions if they are removed from a cohort?

When a learner is removed from a cohort, their completions are not deleted. Completions are tied to learning content in Degreed, not to cohort membership, so completed content remains complete even after removal. If the learner joins another cohort with the same content, their progress does not reset. Degreed in-app reports continue to show the learner’s completions as part of their overall learning activity, even if they no longer appear in cohort-specific (Academy) reporting.