Which is longer a semester or a quarter relating to College/University?

Question

Why do Colleges have a semester system and Universities have a quarter system?

Answer 1

Semester are 15 weeks with an additional week for finals- quarters are called that because there are 4 quarters a year and depending on the school are 10 to 12 weeks long. It has nothing to do with the designation college or university.

Quarter credit hours are only worth 2/3 of a semester credit hour.

Answer 2

Most colleges and universities use the semester system. I have attended four universities and taught at three. Only one had quarters (Minnesota). It has now changed.

Semesters are about 14 weeks long. Quarters are about 10 weeks long. Three quarters were equivalent to two semesters.


There are lots of reasons for doing it. The University of Minnesota used to have quarters (and changed to semesters). They did it because the quarter system allowed them to start the Fall Term almost a month later. This meant that students who lived on Farms were home to help with the harvest.

Answer 3

There are two semesters in a school year, but three quarters (four if you count summer session). So the semester last longer, but the quarters let you explore more subjects in a year. There are pros and cons to each system, so different schools will choose different systems. But within a campus, they will usually choose the same one (for example, each "college/school" in the university will adopt the same system as the entire university).

Answer 4

Semester colleges usually have to full sessions a year, usually fall and spring, each running about 15 to 16 weeks. Quarter colleges have 4 sessions a year, usually running about 9 to 10 weeks each. Either system can be used by a college or a university.

Answer 5

actually probably one of the nicest things about quarters is the fact that they aren't too long and not too short whenever its a semester, i always get bored right around the time that a quarter would be ending another nice thing to me anyways is that you have to keep the material going in a quarter, with a semester, its sometimes to stretched out (that could just be me though) and with a semester or a quarter you always have to keep planning, it don't matter, its just one happens just a little bit more frequent then the other, which isn't too bad, takes me half hour tops normally (normally less)