Home » Jobs & Education » Education » Colleges & Universities » Dartmouth (and a few other schools) makes all its students pass a swim test before the graduate, so that they won’t drown and waste their education.

Dartmouth (and a few other schools) makes all its students pass a swim test before the graduate, so that they won’t drown and waste their education.

Into the Deep End: Dartmouth’s Swim Test

A closer look at Dartmouth’s swim test and what faculty and students on campus think of the issue

Decades ago, many colleges required students to pass a swim test in order to graduate. Today, only a few cling to this tradition, Dartmouth being one of them. Dartmouth’s swim requirement is an untimed 50-yard test that students can complete at the beginning of their First-Year Trip or during any of their terms at the College using any stroke they like.

A few months ago, the issue of the swim test as a graduation requirement was introduced as a topic of debate. The athletics department formed a committee to determine whether the swim test should remain a graduation requirement. Ultimately, the committee decided to uphold the swim test’s… Continue Reading


Source: https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2018/10/deeter-lee-mcgovern-dartmouths-swim-test