Quarter System 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 and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore announced that the campus received a one-year extension to implement its semester calendar, which will begin in fall 2026. The extension was granted in order for the campus to respond to curricular changes that are being proposed for General Education, namely via California Assembly Bill 928 "Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2021" and a new CSU-wide GE curriculum to be announced in 2024.
Cal Poly's Academic Calendar consists of four quarters - Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring.
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 0.667. For example, 9 quarter units X 0.667 = 6.003, which rounds to 6 semester units.
Sources:
Letter to Campus Community: from Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong, by email, 18 October 2021.
Letter to Campus Community: from Cal Poly Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore, by email, 2 March 2022.
Office of the Registrar: "Academic Calendar"
Updated: 9/13/2023