Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College

A balance sheet reflects the health of an organization. In education, health isn’t necessarily measured in their EBITDA. For some, success correlates to an endowment size or alumni contributions. For others, it comes down to student satisfaction. In business schools, there are always the year-to-year inputs and outputs.

Whatever model is used, Dartmouth College’s Tuck School enjoyed a banner year in 2024 – particularly against the headwinds that repelled its counterparts.

You could start with admissions for the Class of 2026. Tuck reported a 36% increase in applications over the previous year. That shouldn’t surprise anyone – it was a rising tide that lifted many top schools. At Columbia Business School, for example, applications jumped from 5,895 to 7,487 during the 2023-2024 cycle. There was an 11.5% application increase at MIT’s Sloan School during the same period. Still, Tuck’s 2,734 applications represent an all-time time. Even more, Tuck didn’t comprise: it remained a highly selective Ivy, accepting just 31.2% of applicants – a 9% decrease from the previous year. What’s more, the Class of 2026 averaged a higher GMAT score and undergraduate GPA that in years past.

While applications skyrocketed across the board, graduate placement and starting pay lagged behind previous years in most business schools. Tuck wasn’t immune from the trend in 2024. Three-month offers slipped from 96% to 91% for the Class of 2024.  However, the school was spared from declines endured by peer schools. At New York University’s Stern School, for example, offers plummeted from 94.3% to 86.1%. By the same token, Duke University’s Fuqua School reported 90-day offers dropping from 93% to 85% as well.

Still, Tuck set the bar in a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. While base pay and bonus held steady at $175,000 and $30,000 for a third consecutive year, average pay actually increased by $300 to $200,200. That may sound pollyannish, but compare those numbers to peer schools. At UC-Berkeley’s Haas School, base pay dipped by nearly $3,500 – numbers that coincide with Northwestern University’s Kellogg School (-$5,000), the University of Chicago’s Booth School (-$5,000), and the University of Michigan’s Ross School (-$5,000).

Think rankings reflect a school’s viability? Despite ceding a little ground, Tuck remained a Top 10 program in all of the major rankings: The Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report, Bloomberg Businessweek, and LinkedIn. More than that, they are winning over their most important constituency: their customers. In a 2024 Financial Times satisfaction survey targeting alumni and students, Tuck averaged 9.724 on a 10-point scale. To put that into context, it was second only to Stanford GSB among The FT’s Top 20 programs. More than that, it represents momentum, as the school scored a 9.55 just two years ago.

It’s a virtuous cycle: happy students evolved into engaged alumni who don’t need much hand-holding to open doors for students and contribute mightily to their success. And you could say alumni financial support is another component of the Tuck balance sheet. In 2023, Tuck concluded its Tuck Difference campaign. It yielded an 81% participation rate – more than double the usual rate at most business schools. More than that, it netted $416 million from alumni and friends – way higher than the school’s $250 million goal. In addition, Tuck attracted a $52.1 million anonymous gift in 2022 to fund an annual global summit. Last year, the school snagged a $37.5 million dollar gift from Glenn Britt, a ’72 Tuck grad ad former CEO of Time Warner Cable, which will go entirely to student scholarships. As Tuck celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, the school intends to lean on its Team of 100, says Joe Hall, senior associate dean for teaching and learning, in a 2024 interview with P&Q.

“The Team of 100 campaign started as an idea to bring together 100 alumni donors to support endowed scholarship funding and raise $125 million to commemorate 125 years of the Tuck School. To date, the Team of 100 has raised $112 million toward its ultimate goal. The strides in scholarship support will help Tuck attract and enroll exceptionally talented and well-matched students, including those who will take on higher financial burdens.”

Tuck alumni don’t just dig deep into their wallets to support students who follow in their footsteps.  Each year, the school estimates, 550 alumni trek back to Hanover to speak to classes or help with interviews – despite the school being two hours from the nearest metro (Boston). Hall would argue that the Tuck Network may be the school’s biggest asset – one whose true impact is hard to quantify in a black-or-red world.

“Tuck is notorious for having the most loyal and responsive alumni network in the world,” Hall continues. “We hear it from students every year—if they reach out to Tuck alumni, the response they receive is open, warm, and inviting. Alumni are eager to share their expertise and advice, to ensure that the next generation of Tuck students has just as transformative an experience as they did. The power of the Tuck alumni network has proven especially crucial in times of economic volatility. At every turn, Tuck alumni step up and offer whatever support they can, and that support can directly help students secure internships and full-time positions.”

What’s behind this enthusiasm? For one, it is an outgrowth of Tuck’s ‘Pay-It-Forward’ mission. According to ’23 alum Sam Haws, second-year students go out of their way to help first-years because “they want them to experience the same success they were able to find.” That carries over into their alumni years. Even more, Tuck is an ‘all-in” culture that attracts a certain student. They are high potentials who value community, love the outdoors, and relish being in a small community. And they aren’t afraid of a little cold, knowing it is bookended by gorgeous falls and springs. At the same time, Tuckies – as they’re called – are expected to be involved. Whether it is in extracurriculars, coursework, or even small dinners or ski runs, every class member plays a part – if not taking ownership on occasion.

“The number of jobs to be done lines up pretty well with the number of students, and it creates a motivating sense of shared communal purpose,” adds ’23 grad Andrew Key. “Moreover, I think it means that there are enough leadership and other developmental opportunities to go around.”

Such demands are one reason why Tuck is sometimes referred to as a ‘24×7 MBA.’ “Tuck students and alumni are exceptionally bought into the school’s culture,” adds first-year James Lewis. “I think it’s a product of Tuck’s location. Everyone that comes here made the decision to leave the city they had established themselves in and dive into a small school with a tight-knit culture. We’re all starting from scratch, and people go out of their way to make the most of it…Whether it’s organizing parties, hiking trips, or apple picking, students are constantly creating opportunities to connect and explore the Upper Valley.”

True to any financial statement, long-term investments have yielded impressive returns. Two years ago, the school rolled out its Tuck Sprints, short courses on timely topics, that have proven popular with faculty and students alike. At the same time, the school is finishing the second year of its Tuck Compass program. Tuck Compass provides students with a “Personal Board of Advisors” – which includes a leadership coach, alumni, and a career services adviser. Using the insights from their one-on-one sessions with board members, students develop a plan that holds them accountable for pursuing opportunities and meeting benchmarks.

“Students meet with their board regularly throughout the academic year to receive advice, expertise, and assistance in support of their individual goals and to help bring clarity to their decision-making,” explains Joe Hall. “In many ways, the PBA is a perfect encapsulation of the personal, connected, and transformative experience that is unique to Tuck. We’re really excited to see the PBA program, and all of Tuck Compass, grow after a successful first year with the classes of 2024 and 2025.”

The Class of 2026 has found Tuck Compass equally valuable. “These engagements are not simply a check-in,” adds first-year Jason Gaines. “It’s a series of meetings with structured goals and the space to challenge the student beyond their comfort zone. The entire purpose is to grow beyond one’s limits by leveraging their PBA’s experience and wisdom. To date, I have nearly a fully constructed board who has begun to help me think differently about experiences to obtain for future biopharmaceutical executive leadership.”

Happy students. Invested alumni. Growing popularity. Healthy revenue stream. That’s not an easy trick to pull for a program like Tuck, which caters exclusively to full-time MBAs. Unlike a balance sheet, an MBA is more about ineffable experiences and relationships. As the Class of 2026 is learning, their Tuck years will inevitably be the most memorable years of their lives.

“During our summer term, we spent most days swimming, kayaking, canoeing, and standup paddling on the Connecticut River,” reminisces first-year Ignacia Ulloa Peters. “As soon as the leaves started turning, I bought a used gravel bike and have been using it to explore the fall foliage across the Upper Valley and joined some Tuck Community Rides—an opportunity to spend time with classmates, professors, and Tuck staff outside of daily academics. With winter around the corner, I plan to spend as much time as possible skiing. Having such amazing access to the outdoors was a fundamental part of my decision in picking Tuck.”

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