Dartmouth College's endowment returned 17.5% in fiscal 2026 (year to June 30, 2026) and rose to $10 billion from about $9 billion a year earlier. Its 10-year annualised return is 11.7%. The endowment distributed $476 million to support Dartmouth's operating budget during the year.
Answer
Dartmouth College's endowment returned 17.5% in fiscal 2026 (the year to June 30, 2026) and rose to $10 billion from about $9 billion a year earlier. Its 10-year annualised return is 11.7%. During the year the endowment distributed $476 million to support Dartmouth's operating budget.
| Dartmouth endowment — fact box | Fiscal 2026 (year to June 30, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Endowment value | $10 billion |
| Prior year | About $9 billion (FY2025) |
| Return | 17.5% (FY2025: 10.8%) |
| 3 / 5 / 10-year annualised return | 12.1% / 6.8% / 11.7% |
| Distribution to operating budget | $476 million |
| Federal excise tax rate | Rising from 1.4% to 4% |
| Investment committee chair | Hadley Mullin |
Sources: Chief Investment Officer (ai-cio.com), Matt Toledo (Oct. 22, 2026); AI-CIO, "Comparing Ivy League Endowment Returns" (Nov. 11, 2025).
How big is Dartmouth's endowment in 2026?
Dartmouth's endowment rose to $10 billion as of the end of June 2026, "up from approximately $9 billion in the 2025 fiscal year," Chief Investment Officer magazine reported on October 22, 2026. The $10 billion figure is after the year's $476 million of distributions to the operating budget, which the college says were already accounted for in the year-end value.
Crossing $10 billion puts Dartmouth just ahead of Brown ($9.5 billion) among the smaller Ivy League endowments, though still a fraction of Harvard (about $68 billion) or Princeton. See the full table in our largest university endowments 2026 ranking.
What return did Dartmouth earn in fiscal 2026?
The endowment returned 17.5%, up from 10.8% in fiscal 2025 (AI-CIO). The announcement did not attribute the result to specific holdings. Investment committee chair Hadley Mullin credited the Investment Office team's judgment and long-term focus, together with alumni generosity.
Fiscal 2026 was a year of wide dispersion. Chief Investment Officer magazine reported that many institutions benefited from SpaceX and AI-related venture exposure, which drove a gap between peers with large exposure and those with little.
| Institution | FY2026 return | Value at June 30, 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNC Management Co. | 37.8% | n/a | AI-CIO, Oct. 12, 2026 |
| Harvard | roughly 27% | about $68 billion | Institutional Investor, Oct. 16, 2026 |
| Brown | 19.6% | $9.5 billion | Brown University, Oct. 9, 2026 |
| Dartmouth | 17.5% | $10 billion | AI-CIO, Oct. 22, 2026 |
| MIT | 10.3% | n/a | AI-CIO, Oct. 12, 2026 |
How did Dartmouth rank among the Ivies last year?
In fiscal 2025 Dartmouth's 10.8% return ranked eighth of eight in the Ivy League, according to AI-CIO's comparison (Nov. 11, 2025). Columbia led with 12.4%, followed by Cornell (12.3%), Penn (12.2%), Brown and Harvard (both 11.9%), Yale (11.1%) and Princeton (11.0%). The spread between first and last was less than two percentage points.
Fiscal 2026 shows a much wider spread: Harvard's roughly 27% is about ten points ahead of Dartmouth. Yale, Columbia and Cornell had not been covered in the sources we checked at the time of writing; see our Penn and Princeton pages for the other published results.
What is Dartmouth's long-term track record?
AI-CIO reports annualised returns of:
- 12.1% over three years;
- 6.8% over five years;
- 11.7% over ten years.
Hadley Mullin said the ten-year return exceeds the spending rate plus inflation, beats the portfolio benchmark and ranks in the top decile of the Cambridge Associates peer universe. As with Brown and Princeton, the five-year figure is lower because the window starts at the 2021 peak.
How is Dartmouth's endowment invested?
Citing Dartmouth's 2025 endowment report, AI-CIO lists:
| Asset class | Share |
|---|---|
| Private equity and venture capital | 39% |
| Global equities and hedge funds | 23% |
| Real assets | 9% |
| Fixed income and cash | 6% |
These four categories add up to 77%; the summary does not break down the remainder. A 39% weight in private equity and venture capital marks Dartmouth as a classic endowment-model investor, heavy in illiquid growth assets.
How does the endowment fund Dartmouth?
The endowment distributed $476 million to the operating budget in fiscal 2026. Chief Financial Officer Scott Frew said: "The stability that the endowment distribution provides to the operating budget is invaluable." The announcement did not give the spending rate.
What about the excise tax?
Dartmouth's federal excise tax on net investment income rises from 1.4% to 4%, according to AI-CIO, following the expansion Congress passed in July 2025. Brown has said it enters the same 4% bracket in fiscal 2027. For colleges in this tier, the higher rate takes a larger bite out of each strong year.
What does Dartmouth's result tell other asset owners?
- A good year can still trail peers. 17.5% is a strong absolute return but sits below Harvard and Brown in fiscal 2026.
- Rankings move. Dartmouth was last among the Ivies in fiscal 2025 yet reports a top-decile ten-year record.
- Taxes now matter. A rise from 1.4% to 4% changes the after-tax arithmetic for spending policy.
Sources
- Chief Investment Officer (ai-cio.com), Matt Toledo, "Dartmouth Endowment Returns 17.5% in Fiscal 2026," October 22, 2026.
- Chief Investment Officer (ai-cio.com), Jonathan Yardley, "Comparing Ivy League Endowment Returns," November 11, 2025.
- Chief Investment Officer (ai-cio.com), Matt Toledo, "Brown University Posts 19.6% Fiscal Year Return," October 12, 2026.
- Brown University, "With 19.6% investment return, Brown endowment continues record support for academic priorities," October 9, 2026.
- Institutional Investor, James Comtois, "Harvard, Brown See Record Growth Thanks to VC and Public Equities," October 16, 2026.
Last updated October 28, 2026.