The Colorado College Block Plan Colorado College began a unique program in 1970 by adopting the Block Plan. Students take one principal course at a time and professors teach one. Some courses may last for one block, others for two or three blocks, depending on the nature of the material. This schedule has many advantages. All courses are given equal importance, and students can give full attention to each course.
Formal lectures are rare, and seminar discussions and active laboratories are the norm.
The Block Plan offers the advantage of flexibility. Each class is assigned a room, reserved exclusively for its faculty and students, who are free to set their own meeting times and to use the room for informal study or discussions after class. Since competing obligations are few, time can be structured in whatever way is best suited to the material. No bells ring. Nothing arbitrarily intrudes after 50 minutes to cut off discussion.