<p>I found this article to be disingenuous and misleading. I agree that the middle class is unfairly squeezed in America and I wish that every high achieving student could have the benefit of a Williams-style education, but in this specific case I don’t see that Williams dropped any balls or moved any goal posts.</p>
<p>Williams doesn’t give merit money – to African American football players or to White piccolo players. This family received their financial package in April which clearly spelled out their financial obligations. Although they couldn’t afford to send their son to Williams, they proceeded to send their son to Williams anyway, hoping that something would change down the road. Clearly they received some bad advice along the way, but from whom?</p>
<p>The article begs many questions: Did someone at Williams (in admissions, in financial aid, in athletics) lead the family to believe that more money would be forthcoming? Did any of other need-only schools on the student’s acceptance list provide better packages? Did Grinnell or other merit schools come through with affordable options? Why is the University of Illinois at $35K considered a much better deal than Williams at $42?</p>
<p>And what’s with Kappa League? Are they really so clueless on how financial aid really works?</p>
<p>This student could have had many other choices, good choices. I can’t see that it’s Williams fault that the family made a foolish or naive decision. The $42,300 tuition bill didn’t just appear “a month into the school year.” The award letter was in place for 6 months. The family chose to ignore it or wish it away by magical thinking.</p>
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<p>To be transparent this question should have read:
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