APUS has a rolling academic year that is different from traditional institutions which typically operate on an academic year normally defined by fall and spring semesters. At APUS, courses start each month and are offered in 8- and 16-week formats. Students may take a combination of 8- and 16-week classes and may overlap class starts to fit their individual schedules. To comply with the rules established by the Department of Education for disbursement of Federal Student Aid under the provisions of Title IV of the Higher Education Act, students receiving Federal Student Aid must take classes on a defined 16-week academic semester schedule. Two consecutive 16-week academic semesters (32 weeks) comprise the student’s academic year, and students receiving FSA may not take classes that overlap semesters. When students first start their studies at APUS, the start date of their first class defines the start date of their individual 16-week academic semester, during which they must take a prescribed number of classes (semester hours) to be eligible for FSA. Counseling for students receiving FSA will be conducted by the APUS financial aid staff and other appropriate staff during the registration process to ensure that they understand the rules for number of semester hours attempted, academic semester restrictions, etc. The diagram on the right depicts an example of student-defined APUS academic semesters and years: - Each student defines his/her own academic semesters based on start date of their first course
- Semesters are 16 weeks long; the academic year is 2 successive semesters
- Students receiving Federal Student Aid may not take courses that overlap semesters
- Students may take a combination of 8- and 16-week courses during a semester, so long as each course starts and ends within the semester
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