Academic Calendar & Exams

Academic Calendar

CU Boulder operates with standard fall and spring semesters of 15 weeks. In addition to a winter session offered in between fall and spring semesters (considered part of spring semester), classes may be offered during special sessions that run for five or seven weeks. Because of their length, special sessions have shortened add, drop and withdrawal deadlines.

The campus also offers a summer term that includes two three-week sessions (Maymester and Augmester), two five-week sessions, an eight-week session and a 10-week session. Summer sessions also have shortened deadlines (add, drop and withdrawal).

For a complete calendar of academic and financial dates and deadlines, visit the Office of the Registrar's academic calendar webpage.

The University of Colorado Boulder has a legal and moral obligation to accommodate all students who must be absent from classes or miss scheduled exams in order to observe religious holidays; and takes care to not inhibit or penalize these students for exercising their rights to religious observance. For further information, see the university policy on the observance of religious holidays and absences from classes and/or exams.

Summer 2026

Fall 2026

Spring 2027

Summer 2027

Final Examinations

It is the policy of the University of Colorado Boulder to adhere to the final examination schedule as published by the Office of the Registrar each semester. Centrally scheduling and administering final examinations and common examinations fairly and consistently facilitates transparent practices for faculty and students and equitable access to examinations for all students in courses that require these examinations.

1. Final examinations are integral components of undergraduate instruction and are expected in all appropriate courses. While it may be appropriate not to give a final examination in some undergraduate courses, such as independent studies, laboratory courses, seminars, project-based courses and colloquia, final examinations are integral parts of the instructional program and should be given in all other undergraduate courses.
2. CU Boulder does not define final examinations as an expected element of all graduate-level courses. However, individual faculty members may require final examinations for specific graduate-level courses, and colleges, schools or other academic units may establish rules and standards for which degree programs or which types of graduate-level courses must include final examinations.
3. Students who expect to graduate in a specific academic term are not exempt from final examinations in their courses for that term.
4. The Office of the Registrar is responsible for setting and publishing the campus final examination schedule each fall and spring semester. Colorado Law sets and publishes an independent final examination schedule for 5000-level and above Law fall and spring semester courses in consultation with the Office of the Registrar; however, undergraduate-level courses offered by Colorado Law must conform to the campus final examination schedule.
5. Faculty and academic units must adhere to the final examination schedule as published by the Office of the Registrar or, for 5000-level and above Law courses, by Colorado Law. An instructor may allow individual students to take the final examination at an earlier or later time if the instructor is satisfied that an exception is based on good and sufficient reasons and if such an exception is unlikely to materially advantage or disadvantage the interests of other students in the course.
6. The week of classes preceding the scheduled final examination period should be used primarily for continued instruction and may include the introduction of new material. For courses in sessions of ten weeks or longer, no examinations may be given during the week of classes preceding the start of the campus’s final examination period; however, assignments listed in the syllabus such as papers, lab practicums, presentations, portfolios and projects may be due during that week.
7. When students have three or more final examinations scheduled on the same day, they are entitled to arrange an alternative examination time for the last examination or examinations scheduled for that day. When students have two final examinations scheduled to meet at the same time, they are entitled to arrange an alternative examination time for the course that meets later in the week during the term or, if the two courses meet on the same day during the term, the course that meets later in the day. Students must make arrangements with the instructor of the affected course(s) no later than the standard deadline to drop a course in that term and are expected to provide supporting written information of these situations to qualify for exceptions.
8. The submission deadline for faculty to submit grades each semester or special session is 96 hours after the conclusion of the final examination, excluding designated university holidays.

Common Examinations

1. Typically, faculty must hold midterm examinations during the regularly scheduled class time and must hold a final examination during the designated examination time for a class as described in this policy. Common examinations, which allow academic units to provide an in-person examination across multiple sections of the same course at one designated time, are an exception. In order to ensure that common examinations best serve students, common examinations must be arranged only in limited circumstances, and only in the case of exceptionally large courses with multiple sections.
2. The Provost (or designee) sets specific course and enrollment criteria for eligibility for common examinations, and common examinations may be approved only when those criteria are met.
3. An academic unit’s request for a common examination must be approved by both the dean and the Office of the Registrar. 
4. Common examinations may be scheduled for summer session courses but may not be scheduled for any courses offered during special (variable length) sessions in fall and spring semesters.
5. Because common examinations take place at different times than other standard examinations, they have the potential to cause conflicts for students’ other classes. A student who has a common examination that conflicts with the meeting schedule of another class must be offered accommodation for an alternative examination time. A faculty member may not require a student to miss another class in order to attend a common examination. 

Reading Days

1. The Office of the Registrar is responsible for publishing reading day dates for each fall and spring semester as part of the academic calendar. Colorado Law sets and publishes an independent reading day schedule for 5000-level and above Law fall and spring semester courses in consultation with the Office of the Registrar; however, undergraduate level courses offered by Colorado Law must conform to the campus reading day schedule.
2. Class sessions or graded assignments of any kind, including papers, lab practicums, presentations, portfolios and projects, may not take place or be due on a day designated in the academic calendar as a reading day.

Provisions for Examinations in Cases of Campus Closure

1. If inclement weather or another emergency results in a campus closure during the scheduled time for a common midterm examination, the academic unit offering the affected course must work with the Office of the Registrar to reschedule the examination.
2. If inclement weather or another emergency results in a campus closure or delayed start during the final examination period, the provost (or designee) must determine whether the final examinations affected by the closure or delayed start will be rescheduled during the final examination period or canceled.
   1. The provost’s (or designee’s) decision on whether to reschedule or to cancel final examinations will be based on the number of examination periods affected by the closure and on the timing of the closure within the final examination period.
   2. If a final examination is rescheduled within the final examination period, a student who does not participate in the rescheduled final examination is not guaranteed a make-up examination or alternative assignment. If the student does not complete a make-up examination or alternative assignment, the faculty member will assign the student’s course grade based on tests, assignments and other graded work completed up to the end of the term. The faculty member may (but is not required to) offer a make-up examination or allow for an alternative assignment to be submitted after the final examination period. However, such an opportunity must be made available to all students enrolled in the course who did not participate in the rescheduled final examination, all final work must be received and graded no later than the end of the first week of the subsequent term (inclusive of summer session), and the faculty member must then submit change of record information for students whose course grades change due to their work on make-up examinations or alternative assignments.
   3. If a final examination is canceled, the faculty member will assign course grades based on tests, assignments, and other graded work completed up to the end of the term. The faculty member may (but is not required to) offer a make-up examination or allow for an alternative assignment to be submitted after the final examination period. However, such an opportunity must be made available to all students enrolled in the course, all final work must be received and graded no later than the end of the first week of the subsequent term (inclusive of summer session), and the faculty member must then submit change of record information for students whose course grades change due to their work on make-up examinations or alternative assignments.

Procedures

1. For all courses in which a final examination is required, faculty members should include the time and place of the final examination as scheduled by the Office of the Registrar on the course syllabus.
2. Academic units may require faculty members who are teaching undergraduate courses to submit information on whether their courses will require final examinations.
3. Unless notified otherwise in writing, such as on the course syllabus, students enrolled in undergraduate courses should assume that an examination will be given. Students enrolled in graduate-level courses should consult with their faculty members on whether final examinations will be administered.
4. Final examinations in summer session courses and in courses offered during special (variable length) sessions in fall and spring semesters are scheduled by the faculty member, typically on the last regular meeting day of the course.

For information about final exams, including the final exam schedules, visit the Office of the Registrar's Final Exam Schedules webpage.