History of Financial Aid

In the early 1960s, the college was among the first to introduce need-blind admission and meet admitted students’ full demonstrated needs.

In 2004, Williams became one of the first colleges to partner with Questbridge.

In 2018, Williams began to cover health insurance and summer storage and created the First Yard Fund, which provides a start-up grant for the highest-need incoming students to purchase things like dorm room supplies.

In 2019, Williams created the Critical Need Fund to support emergency expenses for enrolled students.

In 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the college temporarily reduced tuition and parent contributions by 15%.

In 2021, Williams became one of the first schools to officially end the summer earnings contribution: a fixed amount that institutions expect students to earn and then use to pay for some of the cost of their education.

Also in 2021, the college adjusted the formula it uses to determine financial aid which resulted in lower parent contributions for many low and middle-income families.

In April 2022, Williams became the first institution of higher education in the nation to offer an all-grant financial aid program in which all aid dollars will come in the form of grants that don’t have to be repaid.