Williams College
Private College in Williamstown, MA. Six-year graduation rate 94%. Median 10-year earnings $88,665.
Students who entered Williams College reach a median of $88,665 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. The six-year graduation rate of 94% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Median debt at graduation is $12,761, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.14 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 94% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
- ! Admit rate 8% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 8% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. 15,411 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. A 43% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through. 35% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 740–780 | 190 (35%) |
| SAT Math | 750–790 | |
| ACT Composite | 34–35 | 92 (17%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Williams College →Academics
94% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 97% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 6:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. 2,112 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,060 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $15,894 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $-2,610 at the $0–30k band to $49,594 at $110k+. 57% of students receive grant aid, averaging $66,425 — common but not automatic. Only 5% take federal loans. Private borrowing is not captured in this figure.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 541 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $-2,610 |
| $30–48k | $-1,727 |
| $48–75k | $-1,978 |
| $75–110k | $3,030 |
| $110k+ | $49,594 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 102 of these 2,060 students, totalling $629,872 — an average of $6,175 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Berkshire County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)