I am about to jump into the Linux world. I have been a long time Apple user and I am also experienced in Windows. Normally I would never use Windows on a computer I own but I am a computer science major and next semester I am taking a comparative os class and a network operating systems class both will require me to run a Linux machine and a Windows machine and the later a Windows server. the server i have assembled and not a part of this questions. I bought and older dell latitude d430 laptop with an 80gb hdd and I bought a 120hdd upgrade. I intend to setup 2 partitions, one for Windows 7 and 1 for Elementary OS. When I am done with the classes I will no longer need the windows partition so will Elementary OS allow me to reclaim and re-add the space from the Windows partition to the main disk partition?

Linux is much more flexible than proprietary offerings. No real need to "re-add the space" to the main partition (although that can be done too) - just add it as a separate mount point.
Hopefully by then you'll know how to do it yourself, else plenty here to help.

yes of course you can. And nowadays you can always access a windows partition from linux without any hassle though you need a tool to do the same in windows. If you however require it to be a true linux partition then tools like fdisk and cfdisk might help you.

elementary os is labeled a "beginners desktop distro".

the way i read your abilities and intended use, i think you should go with a more... simple distro, meaning less bling, more functionality.

personally, i recommend crunchbang as a quite frugal setup still suited for beginners, but also rather easy to expand (networking and such).
if you feel more hackish/nerdy and want to get your hands dirty in the installation process, but also have more power to design your system, and more insight, go with archlinux.

I have almost no experience with linux. As I said I normally use OSX exclusively but I also realize going forward through school and eventually when I get in the field and start working from what I have been told Linux proficiency is a must. My only true wish is that I could install linux and dual-boot to it from my Macbook Air. I got elementary os up and running today but it also seemed more clunky then i was expecting. How would ubuntu or as you mentioned arch linux, fedora or openSUSE function on that laptop? the laptop has a broadcom wifi card...(unfortunately) so support from that is a must. i am not afraid to get dirty. lol

who told you that?
the biggest difference between linux and windows is that linux hardly ever comes preinstalled.
in that sense it is a must, yes, but there is many, many distros that make the installation process as easy as possible and also later on do their best to not confuse non-technical users.

you should really check for yourself.

i still recommemd crunchbang because it's based on debian stable, is very easy and quick to install, has a good default set of applications, whilst remaining extremely lightweight. the gui is a bit simpler and a bit different, but still very user-friendly (although i don't really like that word).
the forums even have a thread on how to set it up on mac hardware.

I wonder why you might have chosen elementary OS over thousands of other distros (probably a much better option than elementary one) that exists in the market. Look, distros like elementary OS might give the Look and Feel of a mac system in the beginning but in my opinion it is not worthy at all. You might also have come across Pear OS (another one of its kind) but then since I have tried both of them I can bet that you won't like either of it once you have tried other upstream distros like fedora, openSuse and debian (to name a few). Personally I've been googling a lot since my college days to find the best beginners linux distro but no matter how long the list may run distros like ubuntu and mint topped the discussion. Whatever the case may be distros like debian, mint (.deb based) and fedora,openSuse (.rpm based) will always give you a better experience than those elementary type one.

Since you don't plan to keep your Windows I would recommend using that partition to dual boot a different Linux distro.

Research the differences and try several if you want.