Today's undergraduate students often must balance coursework with other personal and professional commitments. While much attention has been placed on effective strategies for helping students manage workload, curriculum optimization has been largely overlooked. In an analysis of a university lower-level online STEM course, a course redesign reduced student workload, based on student and instructor feedback. Learner outcomes of performance N 1215 and persistence N 1242 were evaluated. Results indicated that grade distributions were significantly different in the reduced workload scenario (p 0.001. Sections with lower workload had more "A" final course grades 70% for lower workload sections compared to 58% for higher workload sections). Course failures were significantly reduced from 8.3% for higher workload sections to 3.2% for lower workload sections (p 0.001. Additionally, course withdrawals were reduced from 1% to 0.5% p 0.001. Study results highlight the idea that student workload and outcomes are related. An excessive number of student assessments ("deliverables") can negatively impact student performance and persistence in a course. This finding is particularly important for STEM courses which can also be seen as difficult or "barrier" courses by students. Implications for course developers and administrators include the idea that online courses do not require an excessive amount of student assignments to have academic rigor. Furthermore, assignments should be monitored to ensure they allow for adequate assessment of learning outcomes. Future work exploring workload reduction in various term lengths, disciplines, and modalities is warranted.