Dartmouth College
New Hampshire, United States
Founded1769
Campus269 acres
Research$326.0M
Updated February 5, 2026
Overview
Founded in 1769, Dartmouth College is a private Ivy League research university and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. It is known for fusing the intimacy of a small liberal arts college with the intellectual resources of a robust R1 research university. The institution operates on a unique year-round academic calendar known as the "D-Plan," which consists of four 10-week terms, allowing students to customize their schedules for off-campus study, internships, and research.
The university is organized into the undergraduate School of Arts and Sciences and four prestigious graduate and professional schools: the Geisel School of Medicine, the Thayer School of Engineering, the Tuck School of Business, and the Frank J. Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. Dartmouth is recognized for its holistic, need-blind admissions policy and its commitment to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need for all students, including international applicants.
Location
Dartmouth is situated on a 269-acre campus in Hanover, New Hampshire, located on the traditional, unceded homelands of the Abenaki people. The campus features a mix of historic and modern facilities, including the West End District, which serves as a hub for technology and innovation. Unique outdoor resources include the Dartmouth Organic Farm, a 269-acre learning laboratory, and the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. The university also maintains the Shattuck Observatory, the oldest scientific building on campus, and a library system holding over 2.5 million volumes.
Hanover, United States
Also in: Lebanon, United States
Campuses
Hanover
MainHanover· United States
Geisel School of Medicine - Lebanon Campus (DHMC)
Lebanon· United States
Campus Culture
Student life at Dartmouth is characterized by high levels of engagement, with nearly 90% of undergraduates residing in one of six residential house communities. The university supports over 160 student-run organizations and a vibrant arts scene anchored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts and the Hood Museum of Art. Athletics and outdoor activities are central to the community; approximately 75% of students participate in sports, including 35 Division I varsity teams known as the "Big Green." The Dartmouth Outing Club, the oldest and largest of its kind in the country, manages over 100 miles of trails.
The campus is rich in tradition, featuring long-standing events such as the Winter Carnival, which dates back to 1888, and the Homecoming bonfire on the Green. The university is also committed to diversity and civil discourse through initiatives like "Toward Equity" and "Dartmouth Dialogues." It has a historic mission to educate Indigenous students, currently hosting representatives from more than 75 tribal nations. Support for various identity groups and faith practices is provided through the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and the William Jewett Tucker Center.
Notable Alumni
Dartmouth College maintains a global network of nearly 80,000 active alumni. Graduates of the institution consistently achieve high rates of admission to medical and law schools. Furthermore, the university's alumni frequently secure prestigious international fellowships, including Rhodes, Marshall, and Fulbright scholarships.
Rankings
Dartmouth is a member of the prestigious Ivy League and the Association of American Universities (AAU), a group of leading research universities. It is classified as an R1 institution, indicating very high research activity. The university's reputation is bolstered by its professional schools, including the Tuck School of Business, which was the world’s first graduate school of management, and the Geisel School of Medicine, the nation’s fourth-oldest medical school. In 2017, Dartmouth topped the Ivy League in Nature’s innovation index for the real-world impact of its scholarly work.
Research
As an R1 research institution, Dartmouth is a major hub for innovation, with sponsored research attracting $326 million in fiscal year 2020. The university hosts over 75 centers and institutes, including the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society and the Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States.
Dartmouth has a historic legacy in innovation, having been the site where the groundwork for artificial intelligence was laid in 1956. Current research efforts are supported by the PhD Innovation (PhD-I) Program, which helps doctoral students translate their research into market-ready ventures. All PhD students at the Guarini School are fully funded through research grants or fellowships, emphasizing the university's commitment to advanced scholarly inquiry across disciplines such as Cognitive Neuroscience and Quantitative Biomedical Sciences.