quarter based vs semester
 

I am thinking about going to Art Institute online program, however they are based on quarter system so credit requirement for BA is 180 credits. 180 credits translates into 55 classes and at $1381 per course the total is $82,360 cost for BA. Is this generally how quarter based schools work? Is AI cost of obtaining BA reasonable average cost for good school? I have seen other online programs with the average 120 credit requirement for BA, so are semester based schools more expensive per course so it averages about the same in the end, with just difference in schedule structure? Any insights from anyone would be truly appreciated.

I don't know how it works with online colleges/courses, but I've attended a school w/ semesters and a school w/ quarters. I found that the quarter system was cheaper. At my school w/ the semester system, you paid per credit hour. So one semester if you take 12 hours you'll pay X amount of money, and if the next semester you take 16 hours, you'll pay more than X amount of money.

At a quarter system (well at the school I went to) you paid one lump amount. So if you took between 6-20(something) units you'd pay one amount.

I paid $3000 for the whole year I was at the quarter system. And I paid around $2500-2800 each semester.