The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) lists 2,180 higher education institutions, among which 607 are public and 1,573 are private. Classes start in June and end in March. The majority of colleges and universities follow a semester calendar from June to October and November to March, while some have adopted an increasingly common semester calendar from August to December and January to May. Primary and secondary schooling is divided between a 6-year elementary period, a 4-year junior high school period, and a 2-year senior high school period.