This evening, Dartmouth accepted 1,005 members to the Class of 2028 through regular decision admissions. In total, the College drew from 31,657 applications — the largest applicant pool in the College’s history, Dartmouth News reported. Nearly 20% of admits qualify to attend without a parent tuition contribution, following a historic $150 million bequest last week dedicated to support scholarships.
The newly admitted students join 606 incoming freshmen accepted through early decision and 74 matched through QuestBridge — a national access program for high-achieving, low-income students — in December, according to past reporting by The Dartmouth.
The acceptance rate fell from last year by nearly one percentage point — 6.2% in 2023 to 5.3% this year — while the number of applicants increased by 10%. The pool of prospective students this year was “holistically deeper,” vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid Lee Coffin said in the announcement.
“Accepted students demonstrate a striking degree of alignment with our institutional strengths and priorities,” Coffin said in the Dartmouth News article. “They express strong interests in sustainability, in dialogue and, more broadly, in using their intellect to make a difference.”
The recent donation means that students from families who make less than $125,000 per year will be exempt from a parent financial contribution, according to past reporting by The Dartmouth. This is the highest threshold in the nation, up from $65,000 previously. Students from qualifying families will be expected to contribute no more than $5,000 annually, from leave-term jobs and on-campus employment.
According to Dartmouth News, 17% of admits are first-generation college students and 15% are from rural areas — part of Dartmouth’s effort to target students outside of urban centers. Additionally, one in two of accepted applicants qualify for some need-based aid.
This is the first admitted class since the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. The College did not disclose data on the racial identities of accepted students.
Students hail from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, according to Dartmouth News. This year’s class sees less international representation than last year’s, down to 68 countries from 75. A plurality of students are from California, and South Korea and Turkey are among the largest international cohorts.
“There was a strong and palpable pull toward our community, with students from around the world telling us they were drawn to Hanover not just for its natural beauty but its profound sense of place and purpose,” Coffin said in Dartmouth News.
Correction Appended (March 29, 7:04 p.m.): A previous version of this article stated that Dartmouth accepted 1,685 members to the Class of 2028 on Thursday evening. The College accepted 1,685 students to the Class of 2028 in total, including early decision and QuestBridge applicants. The article has been updated to clarify the acceptance distribution.
