UPDATED: March 4, 2018, 3:29 p.m.
The College will not expand undergraduate student enrollment, Board of Trustees chair Laurel Richie ’81 announced in a campus-wide email. The decision was made during the Board’s most recent meeting from March 1 to 3 following consideration of a report from the Task Force for Enrollment Expansion.
At the meeting, the Board approved a recommendation from College President Phil Hanlon that the undergraduate student body “should remain at its current level,” according to Richie’s statement. The Board took into account input from community members, she wrote.
“In reaching this conclusion, the board was guided by a commitment to Dartmouth’s distinctive model of close student-faculty engagement in an intimate, collaborative community that honors our profound sense of place,” the statement read.
Hanlon appointed the Task Force for Enrollment Expansion last September to assess the advantages and challenges of increasing the College's undergraduate student body by 10 to 25 percent.
The Board also approved a 3.9 percent increase in tuition, fees and room and board for the next academic year, according to a College press release. Tuition will increase by $2,028, totaling $53,496.
According to the press release, the Board also approved an operating budget for the 2019 fiscal year of $1 billion and a $250 million spending distribution, up 6 percent from the current fiscal year. The Board also allocated $51 million to a capital budget for projects including a $14 million expansion of the Thayer School of Engineering and the renovations of Dana Hall and Blunt Hall.
The Trustees also asked for concepts and designs for a 350-bed residential complex, according to the press release. Locations for the project will be explored. Hanlon announced last week that the College will not build a proposed 750-bed residence hall in College Park due to financial constraints.
