Assignment Due Dates vs Availability Dates

The due date is the date and time when the assignment is due. You can also set a specific time as part of the date. In addition to setting a due date for an assignment, instructors can specify a specific date range that students can submit the assignment. These dates are called availability dates. These dates are optional and can be set depending how you want to manage the assignment. If the availability date fields are blank this allow the assignment to be submitted at any time throughout the entire course. 

If no time is set, the date defaults to 11:59 pm for the course time zone. Please note that seconds are not counted in the due date time. For instance, a due time of 11:59 pm means that the assignment is marked late at 11:59:01 pm.

Student assignments submitted after the due date will be marked as late in the Gradebook.  

Due Dates and Availability Dates can be used together, depending on how you want to manage the assignment. Access this document Links to an external site. (you will have to scroll down) for some common scenarios you can create with dates.