In accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, a method and apparatus for scheduling traffic in a communications node is provided. Line cards request communication opportunities from a switch fabric. The switch fabric issues grants for such communication opportunities in response to specific requests. By dynamically adjusting usage of such communication opportunities corresponding to such grants among requests of differing priorities and/or latency criteria, embodiments of the present invention are able to provide increased capacity utilization of switching fabric bandwidth while maximizing adherence to priority requirements and/or latency criteria.