Universities and colleges in the U.S. typically have academic calendars that are divided by semesters or quarters.
The semester system, most widely employed by U.S. universities, divides the academic year into two 15-week semesters, or 30 weeks per year.
The quarter system, used by 20 percent of our higher education institutions, breaks up the year into four quarters—three quarters comprise an academic year. A quarter is ten weeks long.
Since two semesters of instruction are equivalent to three quarters of instruction, a quarter hour has two-thirds the value of a semester hour.
Step 1
Determine the total number of semester hours you want to convert.
For example, say you have 30 semester hours, typically what a full-time student would complete in a year.
Step 2
Multiply by 1.5.
For example, 30 (semester hours) X 1.5
Step 3
The answer to the equation converts the number of semester hours into quarter hours.
For example 30 (semester hours) X 1.5 = 45 (quarter hours). (Both are equivalent to a full-time year of study.)