Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College at a Glance
Reviewed by James A. Barham, PhD, Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error
Dartmouth College Featured Rankings
- #1 New Hampshire's Best Online Master's Degrees
- #1 Best Research Universities in New Hampshire
- #1 Best Grad Schools in New Hampshire
- #1 Best Colleges in New Hampshire
- #1 Best Private Colleges in New Hampshire
- #1 Most Influential US Universities by State
- #8 Best Consulting MBA Programs
- #18 The 20 Best Business Schools for Earning an MBA Ranked for Students
- #19 English Research Universities
- #19 Sociology Research Universities
- #19 Most Influential Colleges in Lacrosse Today
- #19 Religious Studies Research Universities
- #20 Best Undergrad Private Colleges
- #21 Earth Sciences Research Universities
- #21 Best Private Grad Schools 2026
- #22 Philosophy Research Universities
- #23 Political Science Research Universities
- #23 Computer Science Research Universities
- #23 History Research Universities
- #23 Economics Research Universities
- #23 The Fastest Traditional MBA Degree Programs
- #24 Anthropology Research Universities
- #24 Best Undergrad Colleges 2026
- #26 The Best Traditional MBA Programs
- #28 Best Undergrad Research Universities 2026
- #31 Best US Universities 2026
- #31 Best Grad Schools 2026
- #80 Best Universities World 2026
About Dartmouth College
In brief
Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire, was founded in 1769 and is the ninth-oldest university in the US and a member of the Ivy League. Despite its name, it is a full research university that grants doctoral degrees. By our measure of academic influence, it ranks #34 in the United States and #97 in the world. It admitted 5.4% of applicants for fall 2024; admitted students had a median SAT score of 1535 and a median ACT score of 34.
Its founder, the Congregationalist minister Eleazar Wheelock, named it for William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, a major donor to his earlier school for Native American boys. Dartmouth admitted its first Black students in 1775.
Where Dartmouth’s influence is strongest
Dartmouth’s influence is spread across business, the humanities, and computer science. Its strongest broad fields, by US rank in our data, are:
- Business: #21 in the US (#41 in the world)
- Literature: #22
- Communications: #23
- Education and computer science: #24 each
Its highest-ranked specialties in our data are:
- #4 in the US: chaos theory, the field pioneered by its alumnus Edward Lorenz
- #7: sociology of education
- #8: personality psychology
- #9: parallel computing
By comparison, Dartmouth sits further back in anthropology (#80), social work (#82), and criminal justice (#96).
How we measure influence: these ranks come from the citations and recognition earned by a school’s faculty and alumni in each discipline, not from surveys or admissions statistics. See our methodology.
Notable people
Dartmouth-connected figures include the statesmen Daniel Webster, Thaddeus Stevens, and Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, the biologist Ernest Everett Just, the poet Robert Frost, Theodor Geisel (“Dr. Seuss”), the novelist Louise Erdrich, the historian Annette Gordon-Reed, Fred Rogers, the actor Meryl Streep, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner. Our full lists of Dartmouth’s most influential alumni and faculty appear below.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dartmouth hard to get into? Yes. It admitted 5.4% of applicants for fall 2024; the middle half of admitted students scored 740–780 on the SAT reading section and 760–790 on math.
What does Dartmouth cost? Tuition is $71,525 for 2025–26. What families pay after grants depends on income; Dartmouth’s net price calculator gives a personal estimate.
How do Dartmouth graduates do? 95.3% of students who started in 2019 graduated within six years, and 98% of first-year students return for a second year. Ten years after starting college, former students had median earnings of $111,162.
What is Dartmouth best known for academically? By our influence data: business, literature, communications, education, and computer science, plus chaos theory, where it ranks fourth in the country.
According to Wikipedia, Dartmouth College is a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although originally established to educate Native Americans in Christian theology and the English way of life, the university primarily trained Congregationalist ministers during its early history before it gradually secularized. Emerging into national prominence at the turn of the 20th century, Dartmouth was considered to be the most prestigious undergraduate college in the United States in the early 1900s. While Dartmouth is now a research university rather than simply an undergraduate college, it continues to go by "Dartmouth College" to emphasize its focus on undergraduate education.
Dartmouth College Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information
| Annual Applications | Acceptance | Retention Rate | Graduation Rate | Median SAT Score | Median ACT Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28,841 | 5% | 98% | 95% | 1535 | 34 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); acceptance rate for fall 2024; test scores for fall 2024; applications and enrollment for fall 2023; retention for students who started in fall 2023; graduation rate within six years for students who started in 2019.
How Much Does Dartmouth College Cost To Attend?
| Tuition and fees (in-state) |
|---|
| $71,525 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); tuition and fees for 2025–26; net price for 2024–25, for first-time, full-time students receiving financial aid.
How Much Do Dartmouth College Graduates Make?
Ten years after starting college, former Dartmouth College students who received federal financial aid earn a median of $111,162 a year, and 93% of those not still in school are working.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; students who started college in 2011–12 or 2012–13, measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars.
Dartmouth College's Demographics
Students enrolled at any time during the 2023–24 school year, including part-time and online students.
| Student Body | Under-Grads | Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 7,434 | 5,017 | 2,417 |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics; 12-month enrollment for 2023–24.
Where is Dartmouth College?
Dartmouth College is located at 207 Parkhurst Hall, Hanover, NH 03755-3529.
How Safe is Dartmouth College?
Like every college that receives federal student aid, Dartmouth College publishes an annual security report with its campus crime statistics and safety policies. Its figures can also be looked up in the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety and Security database.
Relative to its enrollment, Dartmouth College has a violent crime rate of 0.63% and a property crime rate of 0.65%. Hanover has a violent crime rate of less than 0.01% and a property (including theft) crime rate of 0.46%. Sources: campus: U.S. Department of Education Campus Safety and Security data, on-campus offenses in 2024 (violent: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property: burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson, which excludes ordinary theft); city: FBI Crime Data Explorer, offenses reported to the city police in 2024.
What Is Dartmouth College Known For?
Dartmouth College is known for its academic work in the following disciplines:
- Business
- Literature
- Computer Science
- Political Science
- History
- Earth Sciences
- Medical
- Economics
- Mathematics
- Religious Studies
- Philosophy
- Engineering
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Anthropology
Dartmouth College's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered
Each rank compares how much Dartmouth College's faculty and alumni have shaped a field with other schools, using Wikipedia, Wikidata and scholarly citation databases such as Crossref and Semantic Scholar. World and U.S. ranks reflect modern influence; the historical rank counts influence across all time. How we rank influence
Dartmouth College ranks #21 in the U.S. and #41 worldwide for influence in Business.
business DegreesDartmouth College ranks #22 in the U.S. and #63 worldwide for influence in Literature.
literature DegreesDartmouth College ranks #24 in the U.S. and #56 worldwide for influence in Computer Science.
computer-science DegreesDartmouth College ranks #31 in the U.S. and #100 worldwide for influence in Political Science.
political-science DegreesDartmouth College ranks #33 in the U.S. and #84 worldwide for influence in History.
history DegreesDartmouth College ranks #34 in the U.S. and #130 worldwide for influence in Earth Sciences.
earth-science DegreesDartmouth College ranks #35 in the U.S. and #80 worldwide for influence in Medical.
medicine DegreesDartmouth College ranks #35 in the U.S. and #131 worldwide for influence in Economics.
economics DegreesDartmouth College ranks #41 in the U.S. and #144 worldwide for influence in Mathematics.
math DegreesDartmouth College ranks #42 in the U.S. and #176 worldwide for influence in Religious Studies.
religious-studies-hub DegreesDartmouth College ranks #45 in the U.S. and #137 worldwide for influence in Philosophy.
philosophy DegreesDartmouth College ranks #45 in the U.S. and #151 worldwide for influence in Engineering.
engineering DegreesDartmouth College ranks #45 in the U.S. and #159 worldwide for influence in Physics.
physics DegreesDartmouth College ranks #46 in the U.S. and #183 worldwide for influence in Chemistry.
chemistry DegreesDartmouth College ranks #48 in the U.S. and #137 worldwide for influence in Biology.
biology DegreesDartmouth College ranks #56 in the U.S. and #99 worldwide for influence in Psychology.
psychology DegreesDartmouth College ranks #65 in the U.S. and #186 worldwide for influence in Sociology.
sociology DegreesDartmouth College ranks #80 in the U.S. and #213 worldwide for influence in Anthropology.
anthropology DegreesWho Are Dartmouth College's Most Influential Alumni?
Dartmouth College's most influential alumni include professors and professionals in the fields of Business, Computer Science, and Education. Here are some of Dartmouth College's most famous alumni:
- Joseph Campbell
- An American mythologist, writer and lecturer .
- Dr. Seuss
- An American children's author and cartoonist .
- Robert Frost
- An American poet. Robert Frost is 4x recipient of Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
- Daniel Webster
- A 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State .
- Vincent Canby
- An American film and theatre critic .
- Robert Reich
- An American political economist.
- C. Everett Koop
- An American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator.
- Stuart Kauffman
- An American biophysicist.
- Jaegwon Kim
- An American philosopher .
- Robert Christgau
- An American music journalist .
- Michael Gazzaniga
- An American neuroscientist.
- Edward Norton Lorenz
- An American mathematician and meteorologist .
Who Are Dartmouth College's Most Influential Faculty?
Dartmouth College's most influential faculty include professors in the fields of Business, Computer Science, and Education. Here are some of Dartmouth College's most famous faculty:
- Brendan Nyhan
- An American political scientist.
- Rafael La Porta
- An American economist.
- Katherine Baicker
- An American economist.
- Tor Wager
- An American psychologist.
- Jennifer Richeson
- An American psychologist.
- Benjamin Valentino
- A Political scientist.
- Jeff Sharlet
- An American journalist.
- Michael Norton
- An American psychologist.
- Bruce Sacerdote
- An American economist.
- Diego Comin
- A Professor of Economics.
- Michael K. Dorsey
- An American environmentalist.
- Ana Merino
- A Spanish poet.
