Partner School Dual-Degree Program

Dartmouth Engineering's Partner School Dual-Degree Program is for undergraduate students enrolled at other liberal arts colleges who are interested in expanding their education with engineering studies at Dartmouth. Dual-Degree Program students have the opportunity to attend two liberal arts institutions and earn two degrees in five years: a Bachelor of Arts from their home institution and a professionally-accredited Bachelor of Engineering (BE) from Dartmouth.

As a Dual-Degree student, you spend your junior or senior year at Dartmouth taking engineering sciences courses not available at your home college. Following graduation, you return to Dartmouth for a second year in the BE degree program which prepares you to practice professional engineering or pursue graduate studies either at Dartmouth or at another university.

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Partner Schools

Dartmouth Engineering has established Dual-Degree Program partnerships with the following schools. If you attend an institution that is not on this list, please reach out to us about considering applications from your school.

Program Options

Enrollment patterns vary for the five years that Dual-Degree students spend—three at their home college and two at Dartmouth—fulfilling requirements for the BE degree. Ask your dean or academic advisor whether your school follows Option 1 or Option 2:

Option 1 (2-1-1-1)

Year 1 (first-year) Home college
Year 2 (sophomore)Home college
Year 3 (junior) Dartmouth
Year 4 (senior) Home college
Year 5 (BE) Dartmouth

Option 2 (3-2)

Year 1 (first-year) Home college
Year 2 (sophomore)Home college
Year 3 (junior) Home college
Year 4 (senior) Dartmouth
Year 5 (BE) Dartmouth

Student Experience


"It gave me the opportunity to study at two colleges and get the best of both—interdisciplinary academics, expanded alumni network, additional clubs and job opportunities, and new friends and experiences."

—Alex Carney '22, Skidmore

Best of Both Worlds

As a Dual-Degree student, you'll enjoy the best of both worlds: the opportunity to earn a professional, nationally-accredited BE while also gaining a broad liberal arts experience from Dartmouth and your home institution. In signature engineering courses, you'll design and develop solutions for real-life challenges that improve lives and better our world.

Student wearing a blue COLBY sweatshirt, intently adjusting a small robotic rover with a mechanical arm, in front of a captivated audience of young children.

Hands-On Learning

At Dartmouth, we believe the best way to learn engineering is to do engineering. In our courses, you'll team up to design, build, test, and iterate prototypes to prepare you for problem-solving in the real world.

Photo: A Dual-Degree student from Colby puts his Mars rover to the test at the ENGS 76: Machine Engineering competition, as future engineers look on.

Three individuals in high-visibility cold weather gear crouch on a snowy surface, smiling for the photo.

Tools of the Trade

You'll have full access to our fabrication labs, machine shop, and makerspaces, and dive into project-based learning with guidance from peers, faculty, and staff to gain the technical skills and human-centered engineering perspectives necessary for professional or research careers.

Photo: In collaboration with the local fire department, Dual-Degree students Javier Esteban de Celis from Wheaton, Stjepan Vrbic from Colby, and Garth Verdeflor from Vassar (pictured) developed an extraction device for safer ice rescues.

A student speaks with an employer rep about job opportunities.

Support, from Start to Finish

You'll have access to many support resources, including our dedicated engineering Career Services for help in finding internships and job opportunities as well as graduate degree programs.

Photo: Career fairs are held throughout the year for employers from around the country to recruit engineering students.

A Path to Research

Partner School Dual-Degree Program alum, and current Dartmouth Engineering PhD candidate, Amritha Anup Th'23 describes how the "Dual Program" complemented her undergraduate education at Amherst, and helped her decide to pursue a doctorate in engineering.

Preparing for Your First Year at Dartmouth

Admission to the Dual-Degree Program is limited and competitive, and we encourage students interested in pursuing engineering studies at Dartmouth to plan ahead. Talk to your academic advisor about the courses you need to best position yourself for admission to the program, including math and science coursework.

Dual-Degree students, upon arrival, should be prepared to take the core courses in Dartmouth's undergraduate engineering sciences major. During their first two years, they must demonstrate their ability to learn mathematics, natural science, and computer science, including:

  • Calculus (3 courses, through vector-valued functions)
  • Physics (2 courses through mechanics and electromagnetism)
  • Chemistry (1 course in general chemistry)
  • Computer science (1 course, introduction to computer science and programming)

The courses must all be at a level appropriate to majors in those subjects. They must be taken for letter grades unless Pass/Fail or Credit/No credit is the only option. We honor credits awarded for advanced placement, A-level, and international baccalaureate courses, but we strongly recommend, and consider in our admissions decision, additional STEM courses that students have pursued beyond the required minimum.

Preparing for Your BE Year at Dartmouth

Because Dartmouth's BE degree requires at least nine courses in math and science, preparing for your fifth year requires planning ahead. We strongly encourage you to include upper-level courses that support your engineering interests in your studies at your home college. Examples include:

  • Linear algebra and differential equations
  • Electromagnetism and atomic physics
  • Organic and physical chemistry
  • Cell, molecular, or environmental biology

In addition, Dartmouth's BE degree requires a full year's-worth of courses in the liberal arts (eg. arts, languages, humanities, and social sciences), which may be drawn from courses taken here or at your home college.

Course of Study

Dartmouth holds classes year-round over four 10-week terms (summer, fall, winter, spring). A full academic year course load consists of approximately nine courses taken over three terms.

The Dual-Degree program requires planning ahead and coordination with the partner school to ensure students are able to meet requirements for both degrees. A course planning guide is available here:

Dual-Degree Program Planning Guide

First Year at Dartmouth

Your first year at Dartmouth includes six undergraduate engineering sciences courses, as well as two or three electives—typically non-engineering courses in the arts, humanities, or social sciences—to fulfill requirements for both the bachelor of arts degree at your home college and the BE at Dartmouth.

COURSE TYPE

NUMBER OF REQUIRED COURSESCOURSES

Common Core

3 coursesENGS 21: Introduction to Engineering
ENGS 22: Systems
ENGS 23: Distributed Systems and Fields (Requires ENGS 22. Students who have taken or will take an intermediate course in electromagnetism may take another engineering course instead of ENGS 23.)

Distributive Core

1 or 2 courses*

Choose one or two from the following:
ENGS 24: Science of Materials
ENGS 25: Introduction to Thermodynamics
ENGS 26: Control Theory (Requires ENGS 22)
ENGS 27: Discrete and Probabilistic Systems
ENGS 28: Embedded Systems
Gateway1 or 2 courses*Choose one or two from the following:

Electrical
ENGS 31: Digital Electronics
ENGS 32: Electronics: Introduction to Linear and Digital Circuits (Requires ENGS 22)

Mechanical
ENGS 33: Solid Mechanics
ENGS 34: Fluid Mechanics (Requires ENGS 23)

Chemical/Biochemical
ENGS 30: Biological Physics
ENGS 35: Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering
ENGS 36: Chemical Engineering (Requires ENGS 22, ENGS 25)

Environmental
ENGS 37: Introduction to Environmental Engineering

Electives2 or 3 courses*

Students typically take additional coursework to fulfill degree requirements for both Dartmouth and home colleges, and they should consult with academic advisors about the suitability of Dartmouth courses in fulfilling requirements at their home institutions.

Undergraduate Engineering Courses
Non-engineering courses at Dartmouth

*The BE degree requires two distributive core courses from ENGS 24–28 and two gateway courses from ENGS 30–37. Depending on your schedule, you may be able to complete only one of the two required courses from each area during the first year and complete the remaining course requirement during the BE year.

BE Year at Dartmouth

During the BE year, students take up to nine courses to fulfill the requirements for the BE degree, including an applied math course and elective courses to build proficiency within an engineering concentration. Depending on prior preparation, students may need to take additional math or science courses during the BE year.

COURSE TYPENUMBER OF REQUIRED COURSESCOURSES
Engineering Design Capstone2 coursesENGS 89: Engineering Design Methodology & Project Initiation
ENGS 90: Engineering Design Methodology & Project Completion
Applied Mathematics1 course*

Choose one from the following:
ENGS 91: Numerical Methods in Computation
ENGS 92: Fourier Transforms and Complex Variables
ENGS 93: Statistical Methods in Engineering

Engineering and Computer Science Electives6 courses

Three to four of the six courses must form a coherent disciplinary concentration, with one course having significant design content. The remaining courses may be chosen from:

  • Distributive core or gateway courses not taken during the Dual-Degree student's first year (at least 2 courses)
  • Engineering, computer science, or other STEM electives, selected from the following:
    • ENGS or ENGG courses numbered 24–88 (except ENGS 66, 75, 80, 87);
    • ENGS or ENGG courses 110–174, 192, 199;
    • COSC 50-84 (except COSC 30, 31, 35, 39, 40, 49, 53, 71, 73, 74;
    • COSC 170–276 (except 174, 179, 189, 210);
    • Two of the three electives may be mathematics or basic science courses, as listed in BE degree requirements.

*Statistics courses equivalent to ENGS 93 are available at some colleges and can be used to fulfilled this requirement.

Course Equivalency

Depending on your undergraduate preparation, you may have to take additional mathematics and natural science courses to meet BE degree requirements. The BE degree also requires coursework in the arts, languages, humanities, and social sciences.

Dual-Degree students may count up to 11 STEM courses from their home institutions in partial fulfillment of the BE degree requirements. These courses must be suitable for inclusion in a technical and applied science program. Courses in question may first be assessed by the Dual-Degree program director, the BE program committee, or appropriate math and science instructors at Dartmouth, and additional supporting material may be required, including course catalog descriptions, textbook information, syllabi, or other.

Academic Terms and Enrollment

First Year at Dartmouth

Dartmouth operates on a year-round schedule, and a majority of students start their first year as Dual-Degree students in the summer with Dartmouth's rising juniors who remain on campus for "Sophomore Summer."

The recommended enrollment patterns for Dual-Degree students are: summer-fall-winter and summer-winter-spring, as well as fall-winter-spring (fall-winter-summer or winter-spring summer is recommended only if the student cannot schedule one of the other three).

Following your first year, you may pursue an industrial internship. Contact Thayer Career Services for more information about internship opportunities.

BE Year at Dartmouth

Dual-Degree students returning to Dartmouth for the BE year typically start in the fall term and follow a fall-winter-spring enrollment pattern, culminating with investiture and commencement ceremonies in June.

Tuition & Expenses, Financial Aid & Housing

First Year at Dartmouth

Tuition & Expenses

Students applying for the first year of the Dual-Degree program should consult with their home institution's registrar regarding tuition. See expenses at Dartmouth for a projected break-down (including meals or other costs not billed by Dartmouth) for the current year.

Financial Aid

During the first year, eligible Dual-Degree students receive financial aid through their home institutions. At many of our partner schools, the student's financial aid will transfer to Dartmouth for the exchange year. Before applying, we encourage students to who receive financial aid from their home institutions to check with their school's administrator to see if aid will follow them to Dartmouth.

Housing

Dual-Degree students live on campus for their first year in Dartmouth's undergraduate housing. Housing options vary across campus and more information is provided upon admission.

BE Year at Dartmouth

Tuition & Expenses

Dual-Degree students returning for the BE year are considered Dartmouth students and pay tuition and fees to Thayer School of Engineering. Expenses vary greatly depending on the student's choice of living arrangements. Financial aid can considerably lower these costs.

Financial Aid

During the BE year, Dual-Degree students are eligible for need-based financial aid from Thayer School of Engineering in the form of partial-tuition scholarships, employment as teaching assistants, fellowships, or loans. No aid is available for room and board, books, etc., in the second year. Loans may be available, depending on financial status and citizenship.

Housing

During the BE year, Dual-Degree students are responsible for making their own off-campus housing arrangements. The Dartmouth Real Estate Office maintains a list of both college- and privately-owned rentals, and can assist in identifying potential housing options.

Contact

Undergraduate Program Director

Jenna Wheeler
jenna.d.wheeler@dartmouth.edu
+1 (603) 646-3677