Sometimes we use time away from routine to reinvent ourselves. Nothing as dramatic as a reinvention happened during the three weeks I spent at Oxford University with local students, but the British system of reduced numbers of class sessions and more work outside class has led me to question our own system. Why do colleges and universities measure their course requirements by the number of hours students spend in the classroom?

Higher education in the U.S. has almost universally given three credits to courses that meet one, two or three times a week for approximately three hours total, in 14 or 15 week semesters. Schools on the quarter system adjust the course load and hours proportionally so that, overall, a typical year of college is equivalent whether on the semester or quarterly model.