Dartmouth at a Glance

Mission: Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Founded in 1769, Dartmouth is a member of the Ivy League and consistently ranks among the world's greatest academic institutions. Dartmouth has forged a singular identity for combining its deep commitment to outstanding undergraduate liberal arts and graduate education with distinguished research and scholarship in the Arts & Sciences and its three leading professional schools—the Geisel School of Medicine, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business.

The Basics

  • Founded: 1769
  • Type: Four-year private, liberal arts
  • Affiliation: Ivy League
  • Students: Approximately 4,200 undergraduate, 1,900 graduate
  • Divisions: Undergraduate College with more than 40 departments and programs; graduate schools of Arts & Sciences, medicine, engineering, and business
  • Motto: Vox clamantis in deserto (“a voice crying out in the wilderness”)
  • Color: Dartmouth Green
  • Nickname: Big Green
  • Academic calendar: Year-round, four-term

Enrollment, Admissions, Financial Aid

Enrollment (Fall 2011)

  • Undergraduate: 4,194
  • Graduate/professional: 1,950
  • Total enrollment head count: 6,144 (3,271 men, 2,873 women)

Undergraduate Admissions

For the Class of 2015:

  • 22,385 applications
  • 1,113 students enrolled
  • Admission to Dartmouth is need-blind

Tuition and fees, 2011-12

  • Undergraduate: tuition $41,736; room, board, and mandatory fees $13,629; total $55,365
  • Graduate Arts & Sciences: $41,736
  • Geisel School of Medicine: $47,780
  • Thayer School of Engineering: $41,736
  • Tuck School of Business: $53,490

Financial Aid

  • Undergraduate financial aid expenditures, FY2011: more than $79 million (scholarships only)
  • Average three-term scholarship: approximately $36,000
  • Nearly 50 percent of undergraduates receive scholarships from Dartmouth

Faculty Head Counts (Fall 2011)

Tenured/Tenure-trackAll*
Arts & Sciences 386 576
Geisel 108 328
Thayer 30 51
Tuck 47 61
TOTAL 571 1,016
*All includes non-tenure-track

Research

President Carol L. Folt

Carol L. Folt

President Carol L. Folt

Diversity

  • Undergraduate students of color: 36 percent
  • International undergraduate students: 7 percent
  • Graduate students of color: 15 percent
  • International graduate students: 29 percent

Staff Head Count (Fall 2011)

  • 2,835 full time
  • 340 part time

Operating Expenses FY 2011

  • $738 million

Undergraduate and Graduate Arts & Sciences

The Arts & Sciences consist of more than 40 academic departments and programs; top majors among 2011 graduates were economics, government, biology, English, history, psychological and brain sciences, and engineering. The Arts & Sciences has 386 tenured and tenure-track faculty members and is among the leaders in percentage of tenured women in the Ivy League. The first Dartmouth Ph.D. was awarded in classics in 1885, and the first modern doctoral programs began in the 1960s. More than 600 students are enrolled in 19 graduate programs in the Arts & Sciences.

Off-Campus Programs

Dartmouth undergraduates have the opportunity to study in over 46 off-campus programs in more than 20 countries. About two-thirds of undergraduates take part in an off-campus program at least once during their Dartmouth career.

Professional Schools

  • Geisel School of Medicine, is the nation's fourth-oldest medical school. Geisel encompasses 16 clinical and basic science departments, and draws on the resources of Dartmouth College and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. In addition to the MD degree, the Geisel School offers graduate education in the biomedical sciences and public health.
  • Thayer School of Engineering comprises both the undergraduate Department of Engineering Sciences and a professional school with degrees through the doctorate.
  • Tuck School of Business is the first graduate school of management and consistently ranks among the top business schools worldwide. Tuck offers a full-time M.B.A. as well as executive education and a number of non-degree programs.

History

Rev. Eleazar Wheelock

The Rev. Eleazar Wheelock

Dartmouth was founded in 1769 by the Rev. Eleazar Wheelock for “the education and instruction of Youth of the Indian Tribes in this Land ... and also of English Youth and any others.” The Supreme Court decision in the famous “Dartmouth College Case” of 1819, argued by Daniel Webster (Class of 1801), is considered to be one of the most important and formative documents in United States constitutional history, strengthening the contract clause of the Constitution and thereby paving the way for all American private institutions to conduct their affairs in accordance with their charters and without interference from the state. Dartmouth became coeducational in 1972, and was named by the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton as one of the world’s “most enduring institutions” in 2004.

Athletics

Dartmouth offers 34 intercollegiate varsity sports (16 women’s, 16 men’s, two coed); two dozen intramural sports; and more than two dozen club sports. Three-quarters of Dartmouth undergraduates participate in some form of athletics.

Alumni

Fifty-seven thousand alumni of the undergraduate college, around the world, make up the bulk of Dartmouth's nearly 74,000 alumni, including the graduate and professional programs. The undergraduate alumni annual fund giving rate in 2011 was 47 percent.

Endowment

As of June 30, 2012, the endowment was valued at $3.486 billion, reflecting an increase of $73 million over the previous end-of-year value. The increase reflected net investment gains of $197 million, and new gifts and transfers of $59 million, offset by distributions of $183 million to support Dartmouth programs.

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