Knowledge Base Answer

How does a quarter term compare to a semester term?

Oregon State University defines a term (also referred to as a "quarter") as one-third of the academic year, not counting summer. Terms at OSU are divided into fall, winter and spring terms and consist of 11 weeks each, with finals occurring during the last week. OSU Summer Session has several different options for length of courses, varying from one week to 11 weeks.

In our Schedule of Classes course listings, W=Winter, Sp=Spring, Su=Summer, F=Fall.

Academic year: The time period containing the academic terms fall, winter and spring (mid-September through mid-June).

Additional definitions are posted in the OSU online catalog and schedule of classes.

Note: When transferring in course work from a semester-system institution, multiply the number of credits by 1.5 to see how many quarter credits will be transferred (3 semester hours x 1.5 = 4.5 quarter credits). If you are planning to transfer OSU credits out to a semester-system institution, multiply the number of quarter credits by .67 to find out how many credits will transfer (4 quarter credits x .67 = 2.68 semester credits).