An academic quarter refers to the division of an

academic year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and university, universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classe ...

into four parts, which commonly are not all exactly three months or thirteen weeks long due to breaks between terms.

Historical context

The modern academic quarter calendar can be traced to the historic English law court / legal training

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which ba ...

four term system: This quarter system was adopted by the oldest universities in the English-speaking world (Oxford, founded circa 1096, and Cambridge, founded circa 1209). Over time, Cambridge dropped Trinity Term and renamed Hilary Term to Lent Term, and Oxford also dropped the original Trinity Term and renamed Easter Term as Trinity Term, thus establishing the three-term academic "quarter" year widely found in countries with a lineage to England or the United Kingdom. Charterhouse, an English independent school, still refers to its three academic terms as "quarters".

United States

Background and trends

In the United States, quarters typically comprise 10 weeks of class instruction, although they have historically ranged from eight to 13 weeks.Kemp Malone, '' 'Semester' '', American Speech, Dec. 1946, p. 264
/ref> Academic quarters first came into existence as such when William Rainey Harper organized the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

on behalf of

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...

in 1891. Harper decided to keep the school in session year-round and divide it into four terms instead of the then-traditional two. Of the four traditional academic calendars (semester, quarter, trimester, and 4-1-4), the semester calendar is used the most widely, at over 60% of U.S. higher learning institutions, with fewer than 20% using the quarter system.''Report of the 1998-99'' ad hoc ''Calendar Committee'', Northeastern University, July 30, 1999
/ref> This number has stayed fairly constant since 1930, when 75% of U.S. institutions surveyed indicated they used a semester plan, with 22% on the quarter system. During the 1960s, a number of U.S.

state university system A state university system in the United States is a group of Public university, public universities supported by an individual state (U.S.), state, Territories of the United States, territory or District of Columbia, federal district. These sys ...

s made a switch from a semester to quarter system, typically in an attempt to accommodate the large number of post-war "baby boom" students who had reached college age (sometimes called the "Tidal Wave I enrollment boom"). A prominent example of this trend was the University of California system.''Debate: Semesters or Quarters'', UCLA Faculty Senate Voice, Apr. 2003 (iss. 3)
Since then,

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

switched back to semesters in 1983, the new UC Merced branch opened with the semester system, and some UC professional schools have switched back to semesters at various points. In 2020, UC San Diego considered a switch to the semester system as well. At various points since the 1960s, committees have been established and official discussions have taken place within the UC system to discuss a systemwide switch back to the semester system.Chris Ziegler, ''Faculty Considers Switch from Quarter to Semester'', (University of California, Santa Barbara) Daily Nexus, Jan. 29, 1990 (reprinted Jan. 29, 2007)
In recent years, a number of higher education institutions have considered or approved a switch to a semester system. The University System of Ohio, which includes

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

, and the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, converted to the semester system in 2012 to better align with other public and private institutions in the state, among other reasons. Individual schools have also switched, like Georgia Tech in 1999. Rochester Institute of Technology converted to semesters in Fall 2013, although the decision was highly controversial, overriding a student vote to remain with quarters. Other institutions and systems that have switched include California State University, Los Angeles,

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

, the University of Minnesota system, the Utah State system, and

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

. Southern Oregon University was required to study a switch to the semester system as part of state legislation on a possible merger with the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

Arguments

Concerns over the quarter system include faculty dislike of the brevity of the term, the loss of faculty research and collaboration time, the end of the spring quarter overrunning the start date of many established summer internships which also leads to shorter internship periods, difficulties in recovering from illness-linked absence, and the heavy administrative workload. A quarter system calendar also may put schools at a disadvantage in competing for prospective students, who wish to keep in-step with friends, and offer more opportunities for students to "disconnect from school." It can be difficult to transfer credits between semester institutions and quarter institutions, even when they are in the same state. Quarter systems do allow students to enroll in a richer variety of courses and school-coordinated

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

s and may encourage students to take on double majors, minors, concentrations, and the like. A quarter system can maximize the use of college facilities in a time of enrollment growth, as it allows for four regular periods of academic instruction. Also, quarters allow for faculty to engage in terms with a relatively light course load of teaching and greater opportunities for short

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

American universities on quarter system

American institutions of higher learning on the quarter system include seven of the ten

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

campuses and all but one of the public universities in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and Washington each.Poe, Mariya. "Semester vs Quarter System Explained & Full List of Colleges," College Transitions, Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
Retrieved March 9, 2024. *

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

* California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo *

Capella University Capella University is a private for-profit, online university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school is owned by the publicly traded Strategic Education, Inc. Capella has 47 degree programs with over 1,600 courses. Approximately ...

* Central Washington University *

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

* Eastern Oregon University * Eastern Washington University *

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...

* Loma Linda University *

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

Milwaukee School of Engineering The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is a private university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, the university has a primary focus on undergraduate engineering education with additional programs in business, mathem ...

* New England Institute of Technology *

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Oregon Institute of Technology The Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) is a public college in Oregon with a residential campus in Klamath Falls, Oregon, an urban campus in Wilsonville, Oregon, and additional locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Seattle. Almost all s ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

* Pacific Union College *

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

* Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology * Santa Clara University * Savannah College of Art and Design * Seattle University * Seattle Pacific University * Southern Oregon University *

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

University of Washington Tacoma University of Washington Tacoma (UW Tacoma) is a campus of the University of Washington, located in Tacoma, Washington, United States. The UW Tacoma campus opened its first classrooms in repurposed warehouses in downtown Tacoma in 1990 and opene ...

* Walla Walla University * Western Oregon University *

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

References