UCSD Academic Calendar 2026-2027

UC San Diego operates on a quarter system, dividing the academic year into three 10-week quarters — Fall, Winter, and Spring — followed by two summer sessions and a flexible Summer Special Session. Fall 2026 carries 49 instructional days across 60 days in the quarter; Winter 2027 carries 48 instructional days across 56 days; Spring 2027 carries 49 instructional days across 58 days. All dates on this page are drawn from the official UC San Diego 2026-2027 Academic and Administrative Calendar, updated June 25, 2026. Students should verify any time-sensitive deadline with the UC San Diego Registrar, as dates are subject to revision.

Key Dates at a Glance

Fall Quarter 2026

Fall Quarter 2026 spans 60 days with 49 days of instruction. The quarter opens Monday, September 21, but instruction does not begin until Thursday, September 24 — a three-day administrative window. Final exams run the full week of December 5–12, beginning the Saturday after instruction ends. Two university holidays fall within winter break: December 24–25 (Christmas) and December 31–January 1 (New Year).

Date	Event
Mon, Sep 21	Fall Quarter Begins
Thu, Sep 24	Instruction Begins
Wed, Oct 14	15th Day of Instruction
Wed, Nov 11	Veteran’s Day Holiday — No Classes
Thu–Fri, Nov 26–27	Thanksgiving Holiday — No Classes
Fri, Dec 4	Instruction Ends
Sat–Sat, Dec 5–12	Final Exams
Sat, Dec 12	Fall Quarter Ends
Thu–Fri, Dec 24–25	Winter Break — Christmas Holiday
Thu–Fri, Dec 31–Jan 1	New Year Holiday

Winter Quarter 2027

Winter Quarter 2027 spans 56 days with 48 days of instruction. Unlike Fall, the quarter begins and instruction begins on the same day — Monday, January 4. Two federal holidays fall within the quarter: Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 18 and President’s Day on February 15. Final exams run March 13–20, again beginning the Saturday after instruction ends on Friday, March 12.

Date	Event
Mon, Jan 4	Winter Quarter Begins / Instruction Begins
Mon, Jan 18	Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday — No Classes
Mon, Jan 25	15th Day of Instruction
Mon, Feb 15	President’s Day Holiday — No Classes
Fri, Mar 12	Instruction Ends
Sat–Sat, Mar 13–20	Final Exams
Sat, Mar 20	Winter Quarter Ends

Spring Quarter 2027

Spring Quarter 2027 spans 58 days with 49 days of instruction. The quarter opens Wednesday, March 24, but Farmworkers Day — a UC system holiday — falls on Friday, March 26, meaning instruction does not begin until Monday, March 29. Memorial Day is observed Monday, May 31. Instruction ends Friday, June 4, with final exams running June 5–11. Commencement follows immediately on June 12–13.

Date	Event
Wed, Mar 24	Spring Quarter Begins
Fri, Mar 26	Farmworkers Day Holiday — No Classes
Mon, Mar 29	Instruction Begins
Fri, Apr 16	15th Day of Instruction
Mon, May 31	Memorial Day Observance — No Classes
Fri, Jun 4	Instruction Ends
Sat–Fri, Jun 5–11	Final Exams
Fri, Jun 11	Spring Quarter Ends
Sat–Sun, Jun 12–13	Commencement

Summer Sessions 2027

UCSD offers two standard summer sessions and a flexible Summer Special Session. Session I and Session II run consecutively with a single weekend between them. The Special Session varies by class — dates and deadlines must be confirmed through the Summer Session Calendar or Schedule of Classes.

Summer Session I

Date	Event
Fri, Jun 18	Juneteenth Holiday
Mon, Jun 28	Instruction Begins
Mon, Jul 5	Independence Day Holiday — No Classes
Fri, Jul 30	Instruction Ends
Fri–Sat, Jul 30–31	Final Exams

Summer Session II

Date	Event
Mon, Aug 2	Instruction Begins
Fri, Sep 3	Instruction Ends
Fri–Sat, Sep 3–4	Final Exams
Mon, Sep 6	Labor Day Holiday

Deadlines UCSD Students Commonly Miss

The quarter system moves faster than a semester calendar, and several UCSD-specific features of this calendar catch students off guard each year.

The quarter opens before instruction begins — and that gap matters. Fall Quarter begins September 21, but instruction does not start until September 24. Winter break officially ends before instruction resumes, giving a short orientation window at the quarter’s start. Students who plan their arrival around the first day of instruction occasionally miss orientation events, housing check-in deadlines, or enrollment holds that require same-day resolution.

The 15th Day of Instruction is an administrative milestone, not just a number. Each quarter’s 15th instructional day — October 14 in Fall, January 25 in Winter, and April 16 in Spring — is when enrollment figures are officially certified. Financial aid disbursements, enrollment verifications for health insurance, and loan deferment letters often use the census count taken on or around this date. Students who add or drop courses close to this date should confirm their enrollment status is reflected correctly.

Final exams begin the Saturday after the last day of instruction — not the following Monday. In all three quarters, the final exam period starts on a Saturday, immediately after instruction ends on Friday. Students who book flights or plan travel for the weekend after instruction ends regularly miss their Saturday exams. The exam period should be treated as part of the quarter, not as time after it ends.

Thanksgiving at UCSD covers Thursday and Friday only. Unlike universities that take the full week, UCSD’s Thanksgiving Holiday covers only November 26–27 — Thursday and Friday. The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Thanksgiving are full instructional days. Students who leave campus Sunday night before Thanksgiving miss two days of class.

Farmworkers Day is a UC system holiday that students from other university systems often do not expect. Observed Friday, March 26, Farmworkers Day closes the university and cancels classes the Friday before Spring Quarter instruction begins on March 29. It is not a general federal holiday and will not appear on most standard calendar apps. Students returning to campus the weekend of March 27–28 ahead of the Monday start should note the Friday closure does not affect their own arrival — but any campus office they plan to visit on March 26 will be closed.

Summer Session I does not begin immediately after Spring Quarter. Spring Quarter ends June 11 and Commencement runs June 12–13, but Summer Session I instruction does not begin until June 28 — leaving a two-week gap. Students planning to take summer courses should not assume continuous enrollment from spring into summer; the gap is real and financial aid timelines may be affected.

About UC San Diego

UC San Diego was founded in 1960 in La Jolla, California, on a coastal bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is a public research university and a campus of the University of California system — the same system that includes UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and six other campuses. UC San Diego enrolls approximately 43,000 students across undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs.

The university holds R1 doctoral university status under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, indicating the highest level of research activity. It is a member of the Association of American Universities and consistently ranks among the top public universities in the United States and top research universities globally.

UC San Diego is organized into eight undergraduate residential colleges — Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Warren, Roosevelt, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth — each with its own general education requirements, advising structure, and residential community. Incoming students are assigned to a college upon admission and graduate as members of that college, which is a distinctive feature of UCSD’s academic structure that does not exist at most universities.

The quarter system UCSD uses differs substantially from the semester calendar common at other universities. Each quarter is roughly 10 weeks of instruction followed by a final exam period, producing a faster pace that leaves less time for adjustment if coursework proves difficult early in the term. Students transferring to UCSD from semester-system schools consistently describe the adjustment as more demanding than expected. The Office of the Registrar maintains the authoritative version of the academic calendar — the dates on this page are subject to change and should be verified before acting on any time-sensitive deadline.