Liberty University Academic Calendar 2026-2027

Liberty University operates two distinct academic calendars for 2026-2027. Residential students on the Lynchburg, Virginia campus follow a traditional semester schedule with a fall break, Thanksgiving break, spring break, and an Easter holiday. Liberty University Online (LUO) students follow a sub-term structure — each semester is divided into four sub-terms (A, B, C, and D) plus intensive courses (J), each with their own registration, financial check-in, and start dates. Both calendars are covered below. Students should confirm their specific dates through the Liberty Registrar, as LUO sub-terms operate on independent timelines even within the same semester.

Key Dates at a Glance

Fall 2026 Calendar

Residential Campus

Fall semester begins August 24 with an add/drop window running through August 28. Fall break falls October 15-16. Thanksgiving break spans November 23-27. The final day of in-person classes is December 15, with the semester officially ending December 18 when residence halls close.

Date	Event
Mon, Aug 10	Faculty Return
Tue, Aug 11 – Tue, Aug 18	Faculty Orientation
Wed, Aug 19 – Thu, Aug 20	Residence Halls open — new students; Dining Hall opens at 12 PM (Wed)
Fri, Aug 21	Residence Halls open — returning students; Dining Hall opens for breakfast
Mon, Aug 24	Classes Begin
Mon, Aug 24 – Fri, Aug 28	Add/Drop Week
Fri, Aug 28	Last Day to Add or Drop a Class
Thu, Oct 15 – Fri, Oct 16	Fall Break
Fri, Nov 20	Thanksgiving Break begins after last class; Dining Hall closes after dinner
Mon, Nov 23 – Fri, Nov 27	Thanksgiving Break
Tue, Dec 15	Final Day of In-Person Classes
Fri, Dec 18	Residence Halls close at 12 PM; Dining Hall closes after lunch
Fri, Dec 18	Fall Semester Ends
Wed, Dec 23	Final Grades Due

Winter Break: December 19 – January 17

Liberty University Online (LUO) — Fall 2026

Registration for Fall 2026 Opens: May 27, 2026

The LUO fall semester runs 17 weeks for sub-terms A, J, and D, and 8 weeks for sub-terms B and C. Each sub-term has a “0 Week” student access period before the official start date.

Sub-term	Description	Accept By	Register By	Financial Check-In	0-Week Access	Start	End	Grades Due
J	Intensives	Varies	—	—	Varies	Aug 24	Dec 18	Dec 23
A	Full Semester (17 wks)	Jul 29	Aug 12	Aug 17	Aug 20–23	Aug 24	Dec 18	Dec 23
B	First 8 Weeks	Jul 29	Aug 12	Aug 17	Aug 20–23	Aug 24	Oct 16	Oct 23
C	Second 8 Weeks	Aug 26	Sep 9	Sep 14	Sep 17–20	Sep 21	Nov 13	Nov 20
D	Third 8 Weeks	Sep 30	Oct 14	Oct 19	Oct 22–25	Oct 26	Dec 18	Dec 23

Winter Intensives (LUO) — 202710: Registration opens September 16, 2026

Sub-term	Start	End	Grades Due
J (Intensives)	Dec 19, 2026	Jan 10, 2027	Mar 12, 2027

Spring 2027 Calendar

Residential Campus

Spring intensives begin January 11 for faculty; student classes begin January 18 — which also falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, observed at Liberty as a Day of Service. Add/drop week runs January 18-22. Spring break is March 15-19. Easter holiday falls March 29. Commencement weekend is May 13-15, with the spring semester officially ending May 14.

Date	Event
Mon, Jan 11	Intensives begin; Faculty return
Thu, Jan 14	Residence Halls open — new students; Dining Hall opens at 12 PM
Fri, Jan 15	Residence Halls open — returning students; Dining Hall opens at 12 PM
Mon, Jan 18	Classes Begin
Mon, Jan 18	Martin Luther King Jr. Day — Day of Service
Mon, Jan 18 – Fri, Jan 22	Add/Drop Week
Fri, Jan 22	Last Day to Add or Drop a Class
Fri, Mar 12	Spring Break begins after last class; Dining Hall closes after dinner
Mon, Mar 15 – Fri, Mar 19	Spring Break
Mon, Mar 29	Easter Holiday — No Classes
Wed, Mar 31	Annual Assessment Day
Mon, Apr 19 – Thu, Apr 22	Research Week
Tue, May 11	Final Day of In-Person Classes
Wed, May 12	Residence Halls close at 12 PM
Thu, May 13 – Sat, May 15	Commencement Weekend
Fri, May 14	Spring Semester Ends
Mon, May 17 – Fri, May 21	Faculty Workdays
Fri, May 21	Final Grades Due

Liberty University Online (LUO) — Spring 2027

Registration for Spring 2027 Opens: September 16, 2026

Spring follows the same four sub-term structure as fall. Sub-term A and D span the full 17-week semester; B and C are 8-week blocks. Sub-term C begins mid-February and ends in April, giving online students three distinct 8-week entry points in a single spring semester.

Sub-term	Description	Accept By	Register By	Financial Check-In	0-Week Access	Start	End	Grades Due
J	Intensives	Varies	—	—	Varies	Jan 11	May 14	May 21
A	Full Semester (17 wks)	Dec 23	Jan 6	Jan 11	Jan 14–17	Jan 18	May 14	May 21
B	First 8 Weeks	Dec 23	Jan 6	Jan 11	Jan 14–17	Jan 18	Mar 12	Mar 19
C	Second 8 Weeks	Jan 20	Feb 3	Feb 8	Feb 11–14	Feb 15	Apr 9	Apr 16
D	Third 8 Weeks	Feb 24	Mar 10	Mar 15	Mar 18–21	Mar 22	May 14	May 21

Summer 2027 Calendar

Residential Campus

Summer term runs May 17 through August 20.

Date	Event
Mon, May 17	Summer Term Begins
Thu, Aug 20	Summer Term Ends

Liberty University Online (LUO) — Summer 2027

Registration for Summer 2027 Opens: February 10, 2027

The LUO summer semester is 14 weeks for the full sub-term (A) and 8 weeks for sub-terms B and D. Note there is no C sub-term in summer. Sub-term D begins late June and runs through the end of the semester alongside sub-term A.

Sub-term	Description	Accept By	Register By	Financial Check-In	0-Week Access	Start	End	Grades Due
J	Intensives	Varies	—	—	Varies	May 17	Aug 20	Aug 27
A	Full Term (14 wks)	Apr 21	May 5	May 10	May 13–16	May 17	Aug 20	Aug 27
B	First 8 Weeks	Apr 21	May 5	May 10	May 13–16	May 17	Jul 9	Jul 16
D	Second 8 Weeks	Jun 2	Jun 16	Jun 21	Jun 24–27	Jun 28	Aug 20	Aug 27

Deadlines Liberty Students Commonly Miss

Add/Drop Week is a fixed window — not flexible. Both the residential and online calendars treat the add/drop period as a defined window with a hard closing date. For residential students, this is the entire first week of classes, closing Friday. Missing the closing date means a course cannot be dropped without academic or financial consequences. For LUO students, the equivalent is the Registration Deadline for each sub-term — after that date, enrollment changes require additional steps.

LUO students have different deadlines for each sub-term. This is the most common source of confusion for online students. A student enrolled in both a B and a C sub-term course in the same fall semester has two different sets of registration, financial check-in, and access dates. Treating them as one deadline means one course is likely handled late.

The Financial Check-In Deadline is separate from registration. LUO students must complete a financial check-in step — confirming their financial aid, payment plan, or out-of-pocket payment — after registering. Missing the Financial Check-In Deadline can result in being dropped from courses even if registration was completed on time. This step is easy to overlook because it comes after registration and is often not prominently communicated.

The “0 Week” is student access, not the start date. LUO sub-terms include a “0 Week” access period before the official start date. During 0 Week, students can log into their course shells and review materials — but attendance and participation requirements begin on the official Start Date. Confusing 0 Week with the start of the graded course has caused some students to miss early assignments.

Winter intensives have a grades-due date in March. LUO’s Winter intensives (sub-term J for Winter 2027) run December 19 through January 10, but grades are not due until March 12 — nearly two months after the sub-term ends. Students who need their winter grades for financial aid, academic standing, or transfer purposes should plan around this delayed posting timeline rather than the sub-term end date.

Easter and Assessment Day affect the residential academic calendar in ways online students may not anticipate. Residential students lose a class day to Easter Monday and another to Annual Assessment Day (March 31). Online students are not affected by these dates, but residential students in accelerated or lab-intensive courses should account for them when planning assignment timelines.

About Liberty University

Liberty University is a private Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. It is one of the largest private nonprofit universities in the United States and is widely recognized as one of the largest Christian universities in the world by total enrollment, with over 100,000 students across its residential and online programs.

The residential campus in Lynchburg operates as a traditional university with dormitories, dining facilities, and NCAA Division I athletics. Liberty competes in Conference USA and operates one of the larger residential campus footprints in Virginia. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

Liberty University Online was launched in the 1980s and has grown into one of the largest online universities in the United States. LUO offers hundreds of undergraduate and graduate programs fully online, serving working adults, military students, and students from around the world who are seeking a Christian education delivered online. The sub-term structure LUO uses — with multiple 8-week entry points within each semester — is designed to give working students flexibility in when they begin courses without waiting for a full semester start.

The residential and online programs share the same academic year structure and institutional accreditation but operate with different academic calendars, grading timelines, and student services. Students switching between residential and online tracks should confirm how their credits, deadlines, and financial aid timelines transfer, as the two systems are administered separately under the same institutional umbrella.