We have studied theoretically the dispersion of ultrafast coherent pulses in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well waveguide structures as a function of optical intensity. Semiconductor Bloch equations are used to obtain the polarization induced in the medium due to an incident Gaussian electromagnetic beam. The partial differential equation describing the pulse propagation in the presence of group velocity dispersion is used to analyze the role of higher-order dispersion on femtosecond pulse propagation in the waveguide. Due consideration has been given to the intensity dependent optical susceptibility of the medium. The results of the numerical analysis manifest significant influence of higher-order dispersion on femtosecond pulse propagation over short waveguide distance.