Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.39
Liaison Laura Draucker
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Amherst College
PA-7: Affordability and Access

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.85 / 4.00 Laura Draucker
Director of Sustainability
Office of Environmental Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have policies and programs to make it accessible and affordable to low-income students?:
Yes

A brief description of any policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students:

We are a truly need-blind institution. More information here: https://www.amherst.edu/admission/financial_aid


A brief description of any programs to equip the institution’s faculty and staff to better serve students from low-income backgrounds:

Trainings during orientation programs


A brief description of the institution’s programs to guide and prepare students and families from low-income backgrounds for higher education:

We have lots of support for students from low-income backgrounds starting with the admission process through their Amherst experience. Some examples:

https://www.amherst.edu/admission/diversity
https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/our-community/campus-diversity-student-leadership/first-generation-students


A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:
A brief description of the institution’s targeted outreach to recruit students from low-income backgrounds:
A brief description of the institution’s other policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:

listed in websites above


Does the institution have policies and programs to support non-traditional students?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s scholarships provided specifically for part-time students:

none


A brief description of the institution’s on-site child care facility, partnership with a local facility, and/or subsidies or financial support to help meet the child care needs of students:

We have an affiliated child care center and faculty, staff, and students have first priority for spots. Subsidies are not specific to students but do exist. https://www.woodsidechildrenscenter.org/


A brief description of the institution’s other policies and programs to support non-traditional students:

We have programs to support veterans: https://www.amherst.edu/admission/apply/veterans

We also offered aid and admission to students displaced by the hurricane in Puerto Rico
https://www.amherst.edu/admission/apply/visiting


Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (tracking accessibility and affordability)? (If data is not available, select 'No'):
Yes

The percentage of entering students that are low-income (0-100):
20

The graduation/success rate for low-income students (0-100):
95

On average, the percentage of need that was met for students who were awarded any need-based aid (e.g. as reported to the U.S. Common Data Set initiative, item H2) (0-100):
100

The percentage of students graduating with no interest-bearing student loan debt or for whom no out-of-pocket tuition is required (i.e. the percentage of graduates who have not taken out interest-bearing loans) (0-100):
70

Estimated percentage of students that participate in or directly benefit from the institution’s policies and programs to support low-income and non-traditional students (0-100):
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

For part 2 question 4, Interest barring loans are not part of our financial aid packages. However, 25 - 30 % of graduating students borrow outside of those packages, but it is unspecified what portion of that figure is non-interest bearing (subsidized) or unsubsidized (interest bearing). Both of those loans become interest bearing 6 months after the student graduates, so we have include 30 % in this.

20 % of low income based on pell grant-eligible from website ( https://www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/facts). 95% grad rate of low income based on 6 year grad rate of 2011 cohort who recieved pell grants (CDS)


For part 2 question 4, Interest barring loans are not part of our financial aid packages. However, 25 - 30 % of graduating students borrow outside of those packages, but it is unspecified what portion of that figure is non-interest bearing (subsidized) or unsubsidized (interest bearing). Both of those loans become interest bearing 6 months after the student graduates, so we have include 30 % in this.

20 % of low income based on pell grant-eligible from website ( https://www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/facts). 95% grad rate of low income based on 6 year grad rate of 2011 cohort who recieved pell grants (CDS)

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.