Editing Dartmouth College (section)

=== The Dartmouth Plan ===
[[File:Dartmouth College campus 2007-11-06 Baker Memorial Library 08 - Tower Room.JPG|thumb|left|upright=1|Tower Room in [[Baker Memorial Library]]]]
Dartmouth functions on a quarter system, operating year-round on four ten-week [[academic term]]s. The Dartmouth Plan (or simply "D-Plan") is an academic scheduling system that permits the customization of each student's academic year. All undergraduates are required to be in residence for the fall, winter, and spring terms of their freshman year and two terms of their senior year, as well as the summer term of their sophomore year.<ref name="d-plan-admin" /> However, students may petition to alter this plan so that they may be off during terms of their senior year or sophomore summer terms.<ref name="Petition for Change">{{cite news |title=Petition for Change in Enrollment Pattern |newspaper=Dartmouth |url=https://www.dartmouth.edu/reg/d_plan_petition_definitions.html#e |url-status=live |access-date=July 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812173004/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~reg/docs/change_in_enrollment_pattern.pdf |archive-date=August 12, 2014}}</ref> During all terms, students are permitted to choose between studying on-campus, studying at an off-campus program, or taking a term off for vacation, outside internships, or research projects.<ref name="d-plan-admin" /> The typical course load is three classes per term, and students will generally enroll in classes for 12 total terms over the course of their academic career.<ref name="Working Rules and Procedures" />

The D-Plan was instituted in the early 1970s at the same time that Dartmouth began accepting female undergraduates. It was initially devised as a plan to increase the enrollment without enlarging campus accommodations, and has been described as "a way to put 4,000 students into 3,000 beds".<ref name="trd-wheelock" /> Although new dormitories have been built since, the number of students has also increased and the D-Plan remains in effect. It was modified in the 1980s in an attempt to reduce the problems of lack of social and academic continuity.