Williams College
PA-8: Affordability and Access

Meet 100% of need for all admitted students who are eligible. For all 4 years that students are here. What makes Williams different is that the college doesn't "gap" students - meaning it can assist them for all four years. The College doesn't turn anyone away because of a deadline. The likelihood about any student having to leave b/c of financial reasons is slim or none. Williams meets 100% of demonstrated financial need, even for the neediest students. Williams has a zero loan policy for students from families with incomes below $75,000 which enables low-income students to graduate with little if any student loan debt. Though our maximum loan debt is $16,000 after four years, many students are eligible for a reduced loan expectation if their parent contribution is below $20,000. Further, students with parent contributions below $4,000 are eligible for a Health Insurance Grant to cover the cost of state mandated health insurance coverage and lower student summer savings expectations - and all students eligible for aid receive a book grant to cover the full cost of required texts and course reading packets thereby exempting them from any out-of-pocket costs for reading materials.

Development of Teaching in the Diverse Classroom – professional development for faculty members – emerged last year. Director of First Generation Initiatives works with 1st Gen faculty members to boost their profile so that – finds linkages between first generation students and 1st Gen faculty members. Summer Humanities and Summer Science - faculty members who teach in those programs get training to work with those students.

Summer Humanities and Social Sciences Program A five-week program for talented incoming first-year students with a passion for the humanities or social sciences who are from underrepresented minority groups and/or who are first-generation college students. Summer Science Program This five-week program runs from late June to early August. It is meant to immerse students in science before matriculation at Williams. The Williams College Financial Literacy website was created and is currently managed by the Financial Literacy Committee. The FinLit Committee is a collaboration between the Dean’s Office, Student Life, Financial Aid, Human Resources, Learning in Action, Special Academic Programs, and others on campus. Our goal is to provide comprehensive and accessible resources to help all students improve their money management skills and overall financial well-being at Williams and beyond. http://sites.williams.edu/finlit/about/

Williams meets 100 percent of every student’s demonstrated financial need. We look carefully at a variety of information to determine how much you and your family should be able to contribute to the cost of your education, and then we subtract that from the amount it will cost you to attend Williams to figure out how much financial assistance you need. Your aid package will also include your expected earnings from a campus job and summer employment, and it may include a modest student loan. We won’t expect you to borrow more than $4,000 a year (though some families opt to). Williams Grant: Awarded based on need, this grant covers 85 percent of the average financial aid package. Williams Book Grant: All applicants who qualify for aid receive a book grant that covers the actual cost of ALL required textbooks, course packets, and studio art fees taken for academic credit during the fall and spring semester(s) when in residence. Winter Study costs, including books, are handled separately. http://finaid.williams.edu/how-it-works/grants-scholarships/

The Financial Aid office mails out a paper copy of the Financing Guide to all the parents of prospective students. We feel that this is still good to have in front of you as a booklet to flip through. We have received lots of good feedback about it. The new Financial Aid website was built focusing on ease of navigation. It includes a glossary http://finaid.williams.edu/glossary/

Though multi-layered, the Admission Office’s strategy for low-income largely centers on two main components: the Windows on Williams (WOW) fall fly-in program, and a formal relationship with QuestBridge, a national non-profit organization. Every fall, we invite roughly 150 low-income and first-generation college students for an all-expense-paid three day and two night visit to campus for WOW. WOW affords prospective students an opportunity to sit-in on classes, meet faculty and staff, attend admission and financial aid workshops, stay in a dormitory, and ultimately, experience Williams first-hand. Though we hope students will apply and subsequently matriculate as Williams students, the scope of presentation for WOW students differs from the standard model for the typical Williams prospective student;, given the socioeconomic background of most WOW students, we serve primarily as de facto college counselors for this constituency rather than admission officers presenting a “hard-sell” of Williams College. In creating a counselor oriented relationship with these students, we are able to maintain contact with them throughout the application process, providing multiple opportunities for contact that are not explicitly Williams focused. The goodwill created from these efforts often results in yielding a high percentage of WOW applicants who apply for first-year admission and are admitted. This year, we began the WOW recruitment process earlier than ever in the hopes to extend the relationship with low-income and first-generation students into the summer preceding their senior year. The majority of this year’s WOW attendees have also been notified of their selection earlier than ever (late July as opposed to early September in the past). Points of contact for these students have extended beyond the admission staff to current students as well, who are able to provide insight into life at a liberal arts college, and Williams in particular, via email or phone. Our relationship with QuestBridge is also integral insofar as it allows us to reach a broader range of low-income prospective students than would be possible otherwise. Every summer, Questbridge sends us a database of roughly 5,000 rising seniors, the majority of whom are low-income or first-generation. Of the 5,000 names we receive, roughly 10 to 20% are competitive for admission to Williams. These students, as selected by the diversity recruitment director, are then sent correspondence encouraging them to apply to the WOW program. Though we receive WOW applications from other venues, including but not limited to College Board searches, community based organizations (CBO’s), high schools, and other organizations work with, a noticeable portion of the WOW applicant pool are affiliated with QuestBridge.

Williams is a proud QuestBridge partner. QuestBridge is a non-profit organization committed to expanding opportunity in higher education to highly motivated, academically talented, low-income, and underserved youth in America. Our partnership with QuestBridge builds upon a longstanding commitment to making a Williams education available to and affordable for America’s best students, regardless of their financial situation. Over the course of our eight year partnership with QuestBridge, Williams is thrilled to have welcomed more than 250 QuestBridge Scholars and Finalists to our community. For more information about QuestBridge, including how to apply via the QuestBridge College Match, please visit http://www.questbridge.org/.

Other programs are listed on this website: http://finaid.williams.edu/how-it-works/grants-scholarships/ A few of the programs include Health Insurance Grant: Awarded to financial aid recipients who enroll in the Williams student health insurance plan and have parent contributions of $4,000/year or less. The grant covers the total cost of the annual health plan. Winter Study Grant: Financial aid students are eligible to receive aid for their primary Winter Study projects. In most cases, Winter Study grants help defray the cost of books, supplies, and/or transportation. The amount of aid varies depending on the type of project.

All Financial Aid students pay $0 for their books through scholarships. This was developed around 2009-2010. These sorts of scholarships also extend beyond required books to include course reading packets, including: studio art fees (paint, paper, pencils, art), any science lab charges (goggles, disecting kit), private music lessons.

Children's Center at Williams is available to students. Williams also has a partnership with the Williamstown Daycare Center.

o Dean’s Office offers housing for students with children. o Access to the child center o Each person who is readmitted after taking time off, is paired with a dean. o Transfer student orientation process

http://admission.williams.edu/affordability/