College seniors and graduate students who have not yet entered the workforce can apply to the Yale SOM M.B.A. program through the Silver Scholars Program. Admitted Silver Scholars candidates complete the M.B.A. in three years, participating in a one-year full-time internship after completing the first year of the M.B.A. program. Silver Scholars are expected to focus full attention on their employment responsibilities during the internship, though they retain their access to all SOM resources during that year. They then return to campus to complete their M.B.A. coursework. The dean of students may grant special permission for a student to extend the internship by one or more additional years. Students wishing to extend the internship must petition for a leave of absence (see Leaves of Absence in the chapter General Information). The request must be submitted no later than the first day of classes in the term they are scheduled to return. The required internship year will be counted toward the limit placed on the length of a leave of absence, such that a Silver Scholar must resume their degree program no more than ten terms or five years after completing the first year of the M.B.A program. Students who fail to register for the term following the end of the one-year internship and who do not have permission to take a leave of absence will be considered to have withdrawn from the M.B.A. program.