<p>Spring admission serves a load balancing purpose, since colleges typically have higher enrollment in the fall, which can result in overcrowding in the fall, or wasted capacity in the spring. It can be advantageous if the student enrolls in community college for the fall term, allowing one to study for and complete the degree at the four year school at about 7/8 the usual cost.</p>
<p>Note that Dartmouth’s D-plan (where students’ off quarters are not necessarily the three summers, and the school says that students should expect at least one of the four fall quarters to be an off term) is another way of addressing the load balancing issue.</p>