by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students are not billed the complete price tag of a school. Rather, they are presented a financial aid deal that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The price tag of going to Dartmouth College can appear overpowering, but remember that the majority of students obtain some kind of financial assistance.
What financial assistance options will Dartmouth offer you, and what will you qualify for? Read on for more information. Keep going to discover how much school funding could be available to you.
The amount of financial aid you can receive varies from person to person and will depend on your family’s economic situation. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Dartmouth College.
Through a mix of loans, grants, work-study and scholarships, schools bring down the effective cost so more students can attend. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
At Dartmouth College, 60% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid approximately 725 freshmen).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 47% | $67,471 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 47% | $65,392 |
| Federal Pell grants | 14% | $5,852 |
| State/local grants | 0% | $2,074 |
| Federal student loans | 13% | $5,004 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. At Dartmouth, approximately 49% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $63,261 (across roughly 2189 awardees).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 49% | $63,261 |
| Federal Pell grants | 14% | $5,730 |
| Federal student loans | 12% | $5,894 |
Among title-IV aid recipients living on campus, grant and scholarship aid averaged $58,274.
Because need-based aid scales with family income, what students actually pay differs sharply across income brackets.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $1,168 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $3,100 |
| Over $75,000 | $45,479 |
Each amount is the average cost remaining once grant aid is subtracted, by income band.
Net price is the average annual cost after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the published cost of attendance — the figure closest to what a typical aid-receiving student actually pays.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $29,519 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $28,619 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Dartmouth’s online cost calculator: admissions.dartmouth.edu/afford/estimate-your-cost.
A typical borrower at Dartmouth leaves with $15,157 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $15,157 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $17,500 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $185.53/mo |
Under a standard ten-year plan, the median graduate’s monthly payment lands near the figure above.
The numbers below show the full range, not just the middle of the distribution. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at Dartmouth.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,000 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,867 |
| Middle income | $9,449 |
| High income | $17,483 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $11,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,174 |
| Independent students | $14,745 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at Dartmouth.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at Dartmouth:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 7458 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $228,226,092 |
Military-affiliated students can tap the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 73 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $3,594,689 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $49,242 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.