Quarters and Quarter Units
Announcement
On October 18, 2021, Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong announced that the university would be converting to a semester calendar beginning with fall 2025.
On March 2, 2022, Cal Poly Provost Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore announced that the campus received a one-year extension to implement its semester calendar; the new deadline is fall 2026. The extension was granted in order for the campus to respond to curricular changes that are being proposed for GE - namely AB 928 and a new GE executive order from the Chancellor's Office. More information about AB 928 can be found here.
Additional information about the semester conversion will be shared as it becomes available.
Cal Poly's academic calendar consists of four quarters - Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring (for specific dates, see Academic Calendar).
Cal Poly's academic year consists of Fall, Winter and Spring quarters.
The university year includes, and begins with, Summer Quarter.
Each course offered by the University carries a value in quarter units, often referred to simply as units or credits.
To convert semester units to quarter units, multiply the number of semester units by
1.5. For example,
6 semester units X 1.5 = 9 quarter units.
To convert quarter units to semester units, multiply the number of quarter units by .667. For example,
9 quarter units X .667 = 6.003, which rounds to 6 semester units.