What is the difference between a term and a trimester?

There are 3 trimesters in a calendar year at CSU-Global: Fall trimester, Winter trimester, and Spring trimester. Each trimester is divided into 3 terms (A, B, C for Burgundy track students or B, C, D for Gold track students).

  • Trimester - 16 weeks long and includes three available terms for registration (2 main terms and an overlapping term)
  • Term -  courses are held within each term which lasts 8 weeks long 

Students are allowed to take classes in all 3 terms during the trimester, but most often, students take classes in the main terms known as parent terms (A and C for Burgundy track students and B and D for Gold track students) and skip the overlapping term. 

An academic year at CSU-Global is defined as 2 consecutive trimesters (i.e. Fall and Winter trimesters, Winter and Spring trimesters, or Spring and Fall trimesters). 

Please see your respective academic calendar in the student portal under the "Calendar" tab or You can also download your track calendar from this link.