Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.29
Liaison Olivia Shehan
Submission Date Aug. 18, 2011
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.0

Wellesley College
PAE-10: Affordability and Access Programs

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Patrick Willoughby
Sustainability Director
Facilities
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Does the institution have policies and programs in place to make it accessible and affordable to low-income students?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s participation in federal TRIO programs:
Wellesley College currently does not participate in these programs.

A brief description of the institution’s policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students?:
In addition to its adherence to a need-blind admission policy, Wellesley College makes a commitment to meeting 100 percent of a students demonstrated need through financial-aid packages consisting of grants and scholarships. http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Dept/SFS The Student Aid Society provides additional financial assistance and number of other services to students to assist with expenses related to education and emergency needs. http://www.wellesley.edu/StudentsAid/resources.html

A brief description of the institution’s programs to equip the institution's faculty and staff to better serve students from low-income backgrounds:
Wellesley Plus Program: This program was developed to provide additional attention to entering students who do not have an academic background to build their critical analysis, research and writing skills and also introduce them to computer technologies used for college-level research and professional presentations. In addition to added academic assistance, the program links these students to a supportive advising team of faculty and staff that mentor students with special consideration for the challenges these students may encounter as they adjust to college.

A brief description of the institution’s programs to prepare students from low-income backgrounds for higher education:
Let's Get Ready http://www.wellesley.edu/CWS/getready.html Student volunteers act as SAT coaches and help students of a local high school complete college applications. The college provides a curriculum for the student volunteers.

A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:
Grants: Wellesley College Grant Students' Aid Society Grant Federal Pell Grant Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant(SEOG) State Grant

A brief description of the institution’s programs to guide parents of low-income students through the higher education experience:
The Student Financial Services Office provides information, tools and resources for the parents of low-income students. These resources allow parents to calculate their financial contribution and to work with Wellesley College to develop a financial-aid package tailored to the student's financial needs.

A brief description of the institution’s targeted outreach to recruit students from low-income backgrounds:
Quest Bridge http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Admission/GetToKnowUs/espquestbridge.psml Wellesley College partners with QuestBridge, a national organization that encourages low-income students to consider applying to highly ranked institutions. As a partner to this organization, application materials for Wellesley College are made available and are reviewed by the Office of Admissions. The application is then reviewed in a process similar to Early Decision applications. QuestBridge students have the opportunity to re-apply to any institution to be considering among regular admission applications.

A brief description of the institution’s other admissions policies and programs:
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A brief description of the institution’s other financial aid polices or programs:
In addition to grants, financial-aid packages may also include student loans or a work-study award. http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Dept/SFS/UnderstandingFinaid Student Loans Federal Direct Loan (Subsidized and Unsubsidized) Federal Perkins Loan Wellesley College Students' Aid Society Loan Wellesley College Student Loan Plitt-Kirgan Student Loan Federal Work-Studey/Wellesley Student Work Students with a work-study award have priority for on-campus jobs and some off-campus jobs are restricted to students with the work-study awards.

A brief description of the institution’s other policies and programs not covered above:
Enhanced Financial Aid Policy http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Dept/SFS/EducationalFinancing/loanpolicy.psml This policy eliminates loans for Wellesley students who have the greatest financial need and for who debt after graduation can be an issue. It lowers loan packages by one-third for many other student.

The website URL where information about programs in each of the areas listed above is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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