50-minute and 3-hour classes to stay the same

By Gina Glantz

Beginning next semester, Fall 2023, classes that were previously one hour and 20 minutes will become one hour and 15 minutes. KU will not alter the 50-minute or three-hour classes.

According to Benjamin Trout, University Registrar, the change is permanent. 

Some students and faculty were unaware that 80-minute classes required a break. Some teachers would give their classes a five-minute break, and some would not. 

Teachers of three-hour classes usually give students a 15-20-minute break, and the 50-minute classes do not require one. 

To reduce confusion about the required break for 80-minute classes, KU changed the schedule. The university removed the five-minute break that faculty was supposed to give, making the classes 75 minutes long. 

Trout also said that the time change will allow KU’s schedule to match with other PASSHE schools.

KU is a part of the PASSHE system. PASSHE oversees 14 universities all across Pennsylvania and is considered “the most affordable higher education option in Pennsylvania.”

Millersville University and East Stroudsburg University, two schools in the PASSHE district, offer 75-minute classes. By reducing the 80-minute classes to 75, KU will better match other schools in the area.

Trout also said that the 50-minute and three-hour classes already align with the rest of the schools in PASSHE, so there was no concern about adjusting them.

Students and faculty who have the 75-minute classes back-to-back on their schedule will now have more time to get to class. They can now take 15 minutes to commute instead of ten.