The deadlines are just as real, but the adherence to those deadlines is quite different.

From my personal experience the difference is night and day. And not just for college courses vs online courses, but even for casual offline courses vs online courses.

The data apparently reflects my personal experience. I can't find any of the (numerous) studies I had seen before, but this link alludes to them:

https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2...