Dartmouth College combines the best features of the undergraduate liberal arts college with those of the research university. It is dedicated to providing undergraduate, graduate, and professional education of the highest quality, and to fostering a love of learning and discovery in every member of its community. Founded as an undergraduate institution more than two centuries ago, Dartmouth also offers select graduate programs within the Arts and Sciences, engineering, and medicine, and professional degree programs in business, engineering, and medicine. These professional schools are among the very oldest in the nation in their respective fields and have a historic role in defining Dartmouth's intellectual values.
Dartmouth has a special character and is committed to fostering the unique bonds that exist between the institution and those who learn, teach, and work here. This character is rooted in the following essential elements:
A devotion to a vital learning environment rooted in the liberal arts tradition. This environment depends upon: a faculty dedicated to outstanding teaching, scholarship, and research; a talented, highly motivated, and intellectually curious student body; and a staff committed to the institution and its purposes.
A conviction that one of Dartmouth's strengths is providing students with close contact with faculty, and an appreciation that the quality of the educational and research experiences Dartmouth offers students is one measure of its success.
A commitment to enriching the Dartmouth educational and social experience by attracting and retaining gifted and talented students, faculty, and staff of diverse backgrounds, experiences, races, and economic circumstances.
A commitment to sustaining an academic residential community of learning that nurtures and supports the social, emotional, moral, and physical well-being of its members -- a community that values individual talents and initiatives in areas as diverse as academic and intellectual endeavors, community service, athletics and outdoor activities, religious life and artistic expression, and political and social activism.
A recognition that its location offers Dartmouth unique advantages and special traditions related to exploring and understanding of the self and society as they relate to the natural and physical environment of northern New England.
