I still remember the struggle of my first quarter of classes as a graduate student. Other than leaving home with nothing more than two suitcases, moving halfway across the world, alone- with no support structure, with no income other than what I was making as a student researcher, getting adjusted to a new country and its culture, as well as trying to make the mental switch from my native language to English 24/7, I think it was a typical international student experience. All these felt manageable as I had my heart and mind set on “doing this” and was emotionally prepared for it. However, I was completely unfamiliar with the concept of a “quarter” and not at all prepared for it.
The University of California (UC) system, like several other institutions in the U.S., uses a quarter system for its academic calendar at many of its campuses. The basic structure of this system consists of dividing the academic year into three primary quarters – Fall, Winter, and Spring, and a shorter, optional 4th quarter for the Summer. Each quarter, except for the summer, is approximately ten weeks long. The Fall quarter typically starts in late September and ends before the winter holidays. The Winter quarter begins after the New Year and ends in March. The Spring quarter runs from late March or early April to June.
At the institutions that implement a quarter system, a full-time undergraduate ( or graduate student, for all that matters) student usually enrolls in 12 to 15 credit hours per quarter. This status is essential for certain financial aid packages, on-campus housing considerations, and other institutional policies. Most undergraduate courses on the quarter system are worth 4 or 5 quarter credit hours. Given this, students typically take three to four courses per quarter to maintain full-time status, which translates to 12 to 20 credit hours, with 15 being a common average. There is often a hard limit to the maximum number of credit hours that students can take without special permission. This maximum is usually around 18 to 20 credit hours, though it can vary by institution and by the student’s circumstances. Students wishing to exceed this standard limit often need approval from an academic advisor or a similar authority. To graduate in four years without attending summer sessions, students often need to average around 15 credit hours per quarter, assuming a typical bachelor’s degree requires around 180 quarter credit hours. However, this can vary based on the specific degree program and any additional minors or specializations a student pursues. It is not uncommon for students in pre-professional degree majors such as pre-vet, pre-med, or pre-law to have to go through over 200 quarter credit hours.
That said, the average graduation GPAs of students from quarter-based institutions are quite comparable to those who receive their degrees from an institution on a semester system.
The quarter system offers significant differences in pace, workload, and topic diversity to students. It is fast-paced. With only ten weeks in a quarter, courses progress quickly, midterms come sooner, and there’s less time between the start of a course and its final exams- with no time to get bored or procrastinate. Although the students only take three to four courses per quarter; the extra quarter per academic year allows for an extra set of 3-4 courses to be available for students per year of enrollment, which allows students to explore a broader range of subjects over their studies compared to the semester system.
There are very few studies that quantitatively compare the behavioral and academic virtues of the quarter system versus the semester system, as it would be impossible for any given institution to maintain both systems at once. So, most arguments for or against either system are mostly intuitive and anecdotal, with the notable exception of a few studies performed during the early 2010s when several midwestern higher education institutions switched from a quarter system to a semester system. These studies tracked and recorded the students’ behaviors and success in observational studies performed across two years, comparing such factors before and after the implementation of the transition( Ref 4 ). They found no change of statistical significance that would imply any change in student behavior and academic success, one way or the other. However, the self-reported preference ratios for vs. against change were reduced to one-half from two-thirds ( against the semester system) at the end of one year of exposure to the new system.
Instead, it is possible to implement short-term courses -also known as accelerated courses- in institutions that work on a semester system. These courses are designed to offer the topic course in under eight weeks, that is half the semester. Despite the shortened engagement time, these courses require equal number of contact hours that would otherwise be spread over 16 weeks- and are indeed equivalent to full-term courses.
We all wish we had the wisdom to learn from others’ experiences. Unfortunately, what shapes us as individuals is our own personal experience- so when in doubt, we all fall back on our own experiences.
I have had a somewhat challenging but otherwise great experience with the Quarter system. Once I adjusted to the pace, I was able to finish all my coursework requirements for my Ph.D. program in under two years- and was able to take the qualifying exam by the end of my second year- a full year ahead of schedule. This allowed me to focus on research for the next two years, and I was able to complete my studies in a little over four years. It allowed me to explore more options as a post-doctoral researcher (a story for another day) and shaped the rest of my career.
Now- I will be developing courses that I will teach together with the stellar team of faculty at UIUC- Crop Sciences focusing on Data Science, Data Engineering, and Modeling for agricultural applications to train a new generation. I am inclined to follow the quarter system model- and develop these courses in an 8-week format.
Stay tuned to hear how it turns out!
References
- Quarter System vs. Semester System (BestColleges.com, 2023): https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/semester-vs-quarter/
- Semester vs. Quarter System: Pros and Cons of the System | UoPeople – University of the People (UoPeople, 2023): https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/semester-vs-quarter/
- Moving Beyond Semester vs. Quarter System (Community College Research Center, 2023): https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/easyblog/moving-beyond-semester-vs-quarter-system.html
- Citations for quarter system vs semester system for undergraduate education (ResearchGate, 2023): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259931369_Transitioning_from_Quarters_to_Semesters_Changes_in_College_Students’_Predicted_and_Perceived_Motivation
- Quarter System vs. Semester System: Which is Right for You? (College Transitions, 2023): https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/semester-vs-quarter/