I have had an epiphany.

Truly, you are not nearly as complex as I thought.
Simply put, you are, in fact, the very definition of ‘contrary’.

I have seen no evidence that Williams isn’t fully competitive in financial aid packagage. They may simply be “tilting” the better aid packages towards attracting different students.

Say 250 turn us down for whom financial aid does matter somehow…how many of the 250 remaining would really come to Williams anyway? Is the Aid a deciding factor or even a strong one, or is it merely incidental? I actually doubt such data could really be gathered very accurately as there are 100 different things that go into a college choice, but we could at least have something to start with. Remember that Yale/Harvard and Williams offer a vastly different college experience, despite the comparable level of academics.

Overall, I agree that we should give more financial aid, as I’m sure anyone who has read my other comments is well aware, but I don’t see the problem being that we contributed money to programs at Mt. Greylock. I could argue that the budget for the Econ department should be cut to go to Aid, but that doesn’t make any more sense. Frankly, the funds to Mt. Greylock are helpful for creating a stronger community all around which helps retain professors, hopefully could help Williamstown be a more attractive place for any student to live in, for those students who care about something other than themselves it reflects well on the school as a whole. From a marketing perspective David, you should like funding Mt. Greylock. It’s like every corporation that throws a pittance to food banks or has one annual “volunteer day” for employees.

In my opinion, we should take money from some of the obscene building projects happening lately. Or at least when budgeting for an enormous capital campaign, allocate more for student aid. Or how about we don’t spend the amount of money that likely went into the half dozen or so large, multi-colored, poorly edited capital campaign brochures that I received in the mail? That would entice some students. In keeping with some of the suggestions that have been posted on this site before, a designated fund within annual contributions would also be easy. I know the school wants general operating money they can put wherever, but I would give more to scholarships than the token amount I give now. (I’m promising it here so anyone that does fundraising is welcome to come after me about it later.)

Henry – I hope the ‘57 scholars continue to go strong. I am an alumnus of that program and it was one of my proudest achievements at Williams. As soon as I can afford it, I plan to give back to it!

There’s an interesting discussion going on about the cost of a Wesleyan education. Given the strong financial interest of those on this blog, I thought you would find this interesting (I know this isn’t the most appropriate place to post but I didn’t know where else to post).

Your president has said his goal is to make Williams into a 12 month institution. From a narrow economic perspective this is convenient. But, economic convenience at what price? If the price is not enough scholarships maybe it is just too high.

Kidding! Glad to see JG back. I apologize again for my rudeness of last month.

I am ready to believe that JG is correct and that the five examples I came up with are not representative of a broader problem. But I doubt it. I think that there are 100+ students that Williams accepts and that are offered much more “need-based” aid by some other school. (Not to mention those that get merit awards.) But this is an empirical question! The Record really ought to look into it.

In fact, back-of-the-envelope, there are 500 or so students who turn Williams down and go elsewhere. Assume that 250 are rich so financial aid does not matter. That still leaves 250 where it does. Some of these, of course, will go to H/Y/P/S no matter what. But shouldn’t Williams at least offer them the same deal?

If your family income is $100,000, Harvard only charges you something like $10,000 per year. I suspect that the bill from Williams is much higher.

In my case, Williams was one of my top 2 choices, so my parents faxed the Financial Aid office a copy of the best offer I had (which was from a good school, but not a Williams/Harvard level). Williams matched it, and that amount was included all four years. The initial “family contribution” amount was similar at Williams and the other school, but the other one had tacked on about $2500 in some sort of scholarship (at the time, that amount was more significant than it seems now). I’m not sure how those decisions are made, but apparently someone had the flexibility to suddenly find more “need” for my need-based aid package. For what it’s worth, the speed, generosity, and respectful treatment by the Aid office staff played a role in my picking Williams and is something I still remember and often recount when I tell people about choosing to attend.

I would guess that at least some adjustment can be made in many cases, depending on the total pool of money allocated for aid. Students that the school wants more are going to have more bargaining power, and those that don’t “really” need it are going to have less.

As for

Instead of spending money on things like Mount Greylock Regional High School, Williams ought to ensure that its financial aid packages are comparable to those offered by its competitors.

I don’t expect the basis for your proposition. On the whole, I think we are comparable to our competitors. Comments on a blog often reflect people who are annoyed or frustrated enough to post, the happy ones have better things to do. This blog is somewhat of a case in point. We don’t get that many comments simply stating “I agree,” or “Good point.”

Now, obviously, all of these colleges have gotten more generous over the past three years. There is no doubt in my mind that Williams today is more generous than Harvard was three years ago was. However, it appears possible that all of Williams’ peer schools have grown more generous at a faster rate than Williams. I’m not sure if that is actually the case; I would be extremely hesitant about basing even the most simple of assertions off of College Confidential. It is nowhere close to a representative sample of prospective students (much like ephblog is not a representative sample of Williams alumns). That said, I don’t remember encountering the volume of finaid complaints on CC three years ago that I see today.