When my son was going through the college search process, he had some unusual constraints. He was involved in elite level athletic training during the winter. His training required him to miss classes during much of the months of November through March. This makes attending a typical college or university tricky, as he would need to miss the end of most schools' first semester, and much of the spring semester as well. So we tried to identify the dwindling number of schools that operate on the quarter system or on other alternate calendars. Surprisingly, I have not been able to find any online college search tool that lets one search on the type of academic calendar the school uses. As a result, I spent a lot of hours doing Google searches and looking at various schools' websites to see if they had a calendar that would work for my kid.
Given that I put a lot of time into this, I figured I'd share, since I suspect I'm not the only parent or student in the USA who might want this kind of information. Below you'll find the list of two year and four-year quarter- and block-system schools that I've accumulated. If you know of others that should be added, if you find broken links or out-dated information, or if you find this information useful and just want to say hi, please send me an email to dlbauer (at) hotmail.com
--Dave
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BLOCK SYSTEM UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES
Under a block system, a student takes only one class at a time, typically for about 3.5 weeks. Blocks might be organized into semesters (for example, at Colorado College, there are 4 blocks in each of the fall and spring semesters, plus 3 optional blocks in the summer session). However, the admissions department in these schools might be willing to allow a student to attend only selected blocks during a term. Inquire with the school if this suits your needs. There are only a few four-year schools in North America that follow this type of schedule.
Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa
Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa (be sure to read the history of this school and of transcendental meditation before considering enrollment)
University of Montana-Western, Dillon, Montana
Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona
Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri NEW!
Tusculum College, Greeneville, Tennessee
Keiser University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Spalding University, Louisville, Kentucky - seven 6-week sessions per year, with classes daily Monday-Thursday
While researching American block system universities, we also came across three overseas. There are likely more, and if you know of any others please bring them to my attention and I will add them here.
University of Suffolk, Suffolk, England NEW!
Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands NEW!
Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia NEW!
Also, while not exactly block system colleges, you might want to look at the atypical academic calendars at these schools:
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA. It has unique 7-week terms, different than both Blocks and Quarters.
Upper Iowa University, Fayette, IA. It has 8 week terms where students take two classes every eight weeks.
Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH has a similar schedule with six 8-week terms per year.
Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA has a similar schedule where students take two classes every seven weeks. NEW!
FOUR-YEAR QUARTER SYSTEM UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES
Under a quarter system, also known as a trimester system, the academic year is divided into three terms (fall, winter and spring) called quarters or trimesters, instead of the typical two semesters. Most schools also offer a fourth summer quarter.
ALABAMA
Troy University Troy, AL and other satellite locations. Five 9-week terms per calendar year.
CALIFORNIA
Stanford University Stanford, CA
University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA
University of California - Davis Davis, CA
University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA
University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
University of California - San Diego San Diego, CA
University of California - San Francisco San Francisco, CA (focuses exclusively on healthcare)
University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA
University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA
California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA
California State University East Bay Hayward, CA
California State University Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA
California State University Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
California State University San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA
California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) San Luis Obispo, CA
Cal Poly Pomona Pomona, CA
Columbia College Hollywood Tarzana, CA - focus on film and television.
Humphreys University Stockton, CA, with a branch location in Modesto, CA.
La Sierra University Riverside, CA (Seventh Day Adventist)
Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA. Seventh Day Adventist; focus on health sciences.
Pacific Union College Angwin, CA (Seventh Day Adventist)
NewSchool of Architecture and Design San Diego, CA. For profit, career oriented.
Pacific States University Los Angeles, CA (business and computer science focus)
Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA
COLORADO
University of Denver Denver, CO
Colorado Technical University Colorado Springs, CO - for profit, career orientation.
FLORIDA
Miami International University of Art and Design Miami, FL - for profit, career orientation.
National Louis University Tampa, FL and several other locations in Illinois NEW!
GEORGIA
South University Savannah, GA
Life University Marietta, GA
Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA
Georgia Military College Milledgeville, GA
American InterContinental University Atlanta, GA - for profit, career-orientation. Note controversies.
ILLINOIS
Augustana College Rock Island, IL
DePaul University Chicago, IL
University of Chicago Chicago, IL
East-West University Chicago, IL
Knox College Galesburg, IL - 3 classes per trimester with extended hours that equate to a semester's worth of classwork
National Louis University Chicago, IL and various other locations in Illinois and Florida
Northwestern University Evanston, IL
North Central College Naperville, IL
Rush University Chicago, IL - focuses exclusively on healthcare.
INDIANA
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN
KENTUCKY
Sullivan University Louisville, KY with branches in Lexington KY and Fort Knox KY - for profit, career orientation.
LOUISIANA
Louisiana Tech University Ruston, LA
MAINE
College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME - focuses exclusively on ecology/environment.
MASSACHUSETTS
Suffolk University, Boston, MA
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA. Unique 7-week terms, different than both Blocks and Quarters.
MICHIGAN
Baker College Thirteen different locations in Michigan
Cleary University Business-focused university in Howell, MI with a satellite site in Ann Arbor, MI.
Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo, MI
Kettering University Flint, MI
Walsh College Business-focused college with three campus locations in the Detroit area.
MINNESOTA
Capella University Online-only university headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. For profit, career oriented.
Carleton College Northfield, MN
MISSISSIPPI
William Carey University Hattiesburg, MS
MISSOURI
City Vision University Online university headquartered in Kansas City, MO. Focuses on urban ministry and addiction counseling. Five 8-week terms per year.
NEW HAHPSHIRE
Dartmouth College Hanover, NH
NEW YORK
Union College Schenectady, NY
Elmira College Elmira, NY
Berkeley College New York, NY - for profit, career oriented
OHIO
Antioch College Yellow Springs,OH
University of Northwestern Ohio Lima, OH
OREGON
University of Oregon Eugene, OR
Oregon State University Corvallis, OR
Portland State University Portland, OR
Southern Oregon University Ashland, OR
Western Oregon University Monmouth, OR
Eastern Oregon University La Grande, OR
Oregon Health and Science University Portland, OR - focuses exclusively on healthcare.
Oregon Institute of Technology Klamath Falls, OR
PENNSYLVANIA
Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
Mercyhurst University Erie, PA
TENNESSEE
South College Knoxville, TN - for profit, career orientation.
TEXAS
American InterContinental University of Houston Houston, TX - for profit, career-orientation. Note controversies.
VIRGINIA
Stratford University Falls Church, VA - for profit, career oriented. Five 10-week terms per year.
Strayer University online and multi-location school headquartered in Herndon, VA. For-profit, career oriented.
WASHINGTON STATE
Bastyr University Kenmore, WA - focuses on naturopathic medicine.
City University Bellevue, WA and 10 other locations in Washington state.
Evergreen State College Olympia, WA
University of Washington Seattle, WA
University of Washington - Bothell Bothell, WA
Seattle University Seattle, WA
Western Washington University Bellingham, WA
Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA
Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA
Lake Washington Institute of Technology Kirkland, WA
Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA - big focus on religion.
Walla Walla University College Place, WA - Seventh Day Adventist.
WASHINGTON DC
National Intelligence University Washington, DC
WISCONSIN
Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, WI
Lawrence University Appleton, WI
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TWO YEAR COLLEGES ON THE QUARTER SYSTEM
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND REQUESTS:
I first created this website in 2011. Numerous people have provided helpful updates and additions to this site over the years, for which I'm very appreciative.
One of my readers, Belin, provided a lengthy list of two-year colleges on the quarter system which formed the starting point for the two-year list above. Thanks, Belin!
Another reader, Zain, provided several updates and performed a thorough test of the 2021 revamp of the information here. Thanks, Zain!
If any reader is interested in taking on a project to convert this hand-coded HTML into some other secure modern format that would render well on mobile devices, please reach out to me and let's talk. This might be a fun and useful project for someone's web design coursework.
Did you find this information helpful? Do you have a college or university to add to this list? Contact me at dlbauer(at)hotmail.com .