Education

School attendance is compulsory from age 6 to age 16 (to age 14 in a school district that lacks its own high school). A commissioner of education is the chief state education official. The commissioner is nominated by the state board of education and appointed by the governor. The members of the board of education are appointed by the governor.

The University of New Hampshire is a state-controlled institution. Its main campus is at Durham; there is a branch at Manchester. The university was chartered in 1866 as part of Dartmouth College and called New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. It was located in Hanover from 1868 to 1893. Its present name was adopted in 1923. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire, as are Keene State College, Plymouth State College, and the School for Lifelong Learning, at Durham. Dartmouth College, at Hanover, is one of the nation's outstanding private colleges.