College dataData from U.S. Dept of EducationUpdated May 2026 · 4 min read
Data: 2026-05 Next refresh: Nov 2026

Dartmouth College: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

Dartmouth College is a private nonprofit college in Hanover, NH. Students pay about $29,519 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $97,434 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 2.7 years and adds $371,764 over a decade, ranking it #26 of 918 (top 4%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$29,519
Median salary (10 yrs)
$97,434
10-yr value added
$371,764
Acceptance rate
5.4%

What is Dartmouth College's acceptance rate?

Dartmouth College has an acceptance rate of 5.4%, which makes it highly selective. It is a private nonprofit institution in Hanover, NH enrolling about 4,541 students, with a 95.8% graduation rate.

How much does Dartmouth College cost?

Dartmouth College costs about $29,519 per year in average net price, what a typical student actually pays after grants and scholarships. Over four years, including typical borrowing, that totals roughly $135,576. Published sticker cost of attendance is $87,793 per year.

How much do Dartmouth College graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median Dartmouth College student earns $97,434 per year. That is $50,734 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is Dartmouth College worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

Dartmouth College pays back its roughly $135,576 cost in about 2.7 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $371,764 net of cost, a 3.74x return on the money invested. That ranks it #26 of 918 (top 4%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by strong graduate earnings and a high graduation rate.

Top 10% value

Dartmouth College graduation rate and student debt

95.8% of Dartmouth College students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $17,500 in federal student debt. That debt is about 18% of one year of median graduate earnings.

Dartmouth College by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How Dartmouth College compares to the median four-year college in our snapshot. Percentile is its rank among the 918 colleges that report both earnings and cost (higher is better).

MetricThis schoolMedian collegePercentile
Avg net price / yr$29,519$20,299cheaper than 18%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$97,434$54,76897th
Graduation rate95.8%57.0%99th
Acceptance rate5.4%75.7%more selective than 99%
10-yr value added$371,764-$28,19297th
ROI multiple (per $1)3.74x0.73x94th
Payback period2.7 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 92%
How we compute Degree value-add & ROI. Investment basis = average net price × 4 years + median debt (net price preferred; published sticker cost used as a fallback). Earnings premium = median earnings 10 years after entry minus the $46,700 typical earnings of a worker with only a high-school diploma (BLS Current Population Survey, median annual earnings for workers with a high-school diploma and no college (~$899/week, 2023)). Degree value-add = premium × 10 years minus total cost, the net return of the degree itself over a high-school career (it can be negative). ROI multiple = 10-year premium ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ annual premium. Ranked by value-add among the 918 four-year colleges in this snapshot that report both earnings and cost; 226 of them do not pay back at ten years. Missing values are excluded, never estimated.
Open data: these figures come from the public College Scorecard (public domain). Our computed Degree value-add, ROI multiple, and payback are free to cite/reuse under CC-BY 4.0.

Frequently asked

Is Dartmouth College worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, Dartmouth College ranks #26 of 918 (top 4%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 3.74x the money invested over a decade.

Is Dartmouth College expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $29,519 average net price is above the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 18% of them.

Do Dartmouth College graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $97,434 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 97% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into Dartmouth College compared to other colleges?

Its 5.4% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 99% of the colleges in the snapshot.

Save
Dashboard