This article was originally reported in January 2026.
The number of student-led organizations at Dartmouth College has grown sharply in recent years. As of January 2026, about 200 organizations operate under Dartmouth’s Council on Student Organizations (COSO), compared with 130 to 140 for several years before, according to Dartmouth News (Dartmouth News, January 21, 2026). Anna Hall, co-interim associate dean for student life and chair of COSO, described a “significant increase in the number of student organizations that COSO oversees.”
How COSO works
- Who runs it. COSO is a board of 18 undergraduates: six sophomores, six juniors and six seniors. First-year students apply in the spring for the following year, current members choose six new members, and each serves a three-year term. The board meets weekly in Collis.
- History. COSO dates to 1911, when it became Dartmouth’s first non-athletic council.
- Funding. COSO is funded by the student activity fee that every student pays. It approves and funds student organizations and can subsidize campus events up to $5,000 per event. Small groups receive small amounts: the Undergraduate Tea Enthusiasts received about $100 for teaware and tea tables.
How a new club gets approved
When students propose a new organization, the board considers whether it would:
- add value to campus;
- have support from students;
- be feasible;
- include a learning or leadership component;
- raise safety or liability concerns;
- duplicate an existing organization.
Approved groups must meet standards of responsibility and accountability, write a constitution and explain how they will operate on campus. Proposals that are turned down can be revised with guidance from board members and Hall, and COSO has added office hours to help (Dartmouth News).
Examples of new groups
- Undergraduate Tea Enthusiasts at Dartmouth, founded by Sophia Jiang ’28 and Conner Sullivan ’28, meets Sunday evenings at Sarner Underground with seven to 10 regulars and is open to all students. “It’s very good for our mental health to do that, and we actually have a lot of intellectual conversations during it,” Jiang said.
- Medical Law and Ethics Society, started by Chloe Banino ’26 to explore issues where pre-law and pre-med interests overlap, brings about 12 undergraduates together weekly at the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy.
- A Dungeons & Dragons club, started by Paul Eason ’27, which he describes as a social club that supports imaginative thinking and cooperation.
What this means for international students
- Clubs are a main route into campus life. At a small college like Dartmouth, which enrolled 4,637 undergraduates in fall 2025 (IPEDS), student organizations are one of the easiest ways for new students, including international students, to meet people outside their classes and residence halls.
- Starting a club is open to everyone. Nothing in COSO’s process described above depends on citizenship. Cultural, language and interest groups started by international students follow the same route as any other club.
- Club roles are not jobs. Unpaid leadership roles in student organizations are not employment. If a position is paid, F-1 students must keep on-campus work within 20 hours a week during the academic term.
For general advice on choosing and joining clubs, see our guide to student organizations in college.
About Dartmouth
- Rankings (Forward Pathway database): No. 12 in the U.S. News 2027 national universities ranking; No. 167 in the THE World University Rankings 2027. See our U.S. college rankings.
- Admissions: Dartmouth received 31,656 first-year applications for fall 2025 and admitted 1,710 (5.4%) (IPEDS).
- International enrollment: 1,470 of 6,938 students in fall 2025 were international, including 726 undergraduates (IPEDS).
- Cost: Undergraduate tuition and required fees were $68,019 for 2025–26 (IPEDS).