I’m looking for some insights on how to interpret a comparison of financial aid outcomes for 2 similar schools - Amherst and Williams. (I choose these 2 because they are both top tier LAC’s with endowments that are of a similar size…it has nothing to do with my son’s thought process on where he will apply).
The CDS reveals that:
A) 74% of Amherst frosh applied for financial aid compared to 59% at Williams.
B) 31% of Amherst 2014 graduates took out loans compared to 34% at Williams.
My first thought on A was that perhaps Amherst’s class is more middle class/less affluent than Williams’ class. Then I looked at the loan information in B which led me to think perhaps the two schools are closer to being alike than point A would suggest.
Any thoughts on how to interpret any of this?
run the net price calculator at each school
then you will know how it pays out for your child’s situation
Williams offer no-loan financial aid packages to families making under 75k with typical assets (they try to cap loans at 4k a year)
Amherst offers no loans in their financial aid packages
Keep in mind that just because a school has a non-loan policy, it does not necessarily mean that you may not have to take out loans; some students borrow to help their parents pay the EFC or other college related expenses.
Both schools give very generous financial aid.
My D was accepted to both at the time, she got a better package from Williams (she chose to attend else where)
So the first takeaway is that apparently Williams has more definitely-full-pay families than Amherst (41% vs. 26%). Meaningful? Up to you.
The statistics I have, maybe 2 years old, show only a 6-point difference in % of students actually on financial aid rather than freshmen applying for FinAid (Amherst higher).
Amherst is known for its diversity. I think it comes out on top almost any way you define diversity. That MAY mean more “middle class” families, maybe not. I’m not sure anyone agrees on what “middle class” is.
Things we looked at when comparing financial aid statistics:
Net cost by income bracket. see http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
Student indebtedness at graduation (in most CDS’s)
With some googling, you can sometimes find a college’s breakdown of students by family income bracket.
My personal take on Williams and Amherst, having recently researched them for my D’s application cycle, it that there is not a meaningful difference in Financial Aid (in GENERAL, nothing is ever predictable for a particular student), and that they both meet full need. Only Williams was need blind in admissions and you would need to verify if that is still the case.
Williams is need blind for domestic applicants. Amherst is need blind for all applicants.
Yeah, I don’t know where alooknac got the idea that Amherst was not need blind in admissions. It is only of only five schools that is entirely need blind, domestic or international. Only Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Amherst and MIT do that.
For the past 15 or so years, Amherst has made it a major priority to increase its economic diversity. It has spent more money on low/moderate income financial aid and outreach than any other school of its type. Vassar is also a leader in this.
The loan information is a little bit outdated. Several colleges, including Amherst and Williams, have changed their financial aid policies in recent years. Financial aid packages from Amherst no longer include any loans (and I assume that it is the same at Williams). Students graduating in 2014 may have had loans in their aid package back in 2010-11, but that is no longer the case.
Don’t get me wrong - both Amherst and Williams have excellent financial aid by any measure. So do Pomona and Swarthmore and the other wealthiest LACs. You need to run the net price calculator at each school to understand what this means for YOUR individual situation.