On March 26, the College invited 1,687 students to join the Class of 2030 from a pool of 28,863 applications, the second-largest in College history after that for the Class of 2028. The overall admissions rate was 5.8 percent, down slightly from six percent for the Class of 2029. Data about the newly admitted class was first reported by Dartmouth News. College spokesperson Jana Barnello declined to provide additional comment.
Applications dropped 11% for the Class of 2029, the first cohort to apply after the College reinstated its standardized testing requirement. This year, applications rose by two percent.
Regular decision acceptances join early decision acceptances the College offered in December. For the second year in a row, the College declined to share the number of early decision offers it extended. According to the Dartmouth News article, the College expects to enroll 1,175 students this fall.
Accepted students hail from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Fifty-nine other countries are also represented, up slightly from 57 in the Class of 2029 but down from previous years — 68 countries were represented in the admitted Class of 2028 and 75 for the Class of 2027.
The recent decline in the number of countries represented has coincided with the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students at U.S. colleges. The State Department revoked 8,000 international student visas last year, including those of two Dartmouth graduate students, whose visas were later reinstated. The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, which the Trump administration offered to Dartmouth and eight other colleges in October, demanded that universities limit international enrollment. The College rejected the compact.
The College offered $53.2 million in need-based scholarships to the accepted class, up from $52.6 million for the Class of 2029. The average scholarship is projected to be over $74,000, which covers 77.5% of the total cost of attendance for the 2025-2026 academic year — $95,490.
Twenty-seven percent of accepted students come from families with a total annual income below $175,000 with typical assets, qualifying for free tuition. An additional 21% are expected to receive a Pell Grant from the federal government’s need-based financial aid program.
The College accepted 93 students through QuestBridge, a national access program for high-achieving, low-income students. 75 students in the Class of 2028 were accepted through QuestBridge; data was not publicly available for the Class of 2029.
This is the second class admitted since Dartmouth joined the Small Town and Rural Student alliance, a group of 32 universities committed to supporting applicants from rural areas. The College did not specify how many accepted students come from rural backgrounds in the Dartmouth News article announcing other admissions data.
According to Dartmouth News, one-third of accepted students “cited a desire to be a part of a Dartmouth culture that values dialogue and free expression” in their “Why Dartmouth” essay.
“Dartmouth is continuing to experience growing enthusiasm from students drawn to the opportunity to engage with ideas and individuals who challenge their own assumptions,” vice dean of admissions Kathryn Bezella said in an interview with Dartmouth News. “This spirit — paired with a willingness to listen, question and consider counterarguments — is essential to the kind of intellectual community we are cultivating at Dartmouth.”
Iris WeaverBell ’28 is a senior news reporter, writing about free speech at the College. She is from Portland, Ore., and is majoring in economics and minoring in public policy.
