College statistics
- Address:
- 880 Main St
Williamstown, MA
01267 - Sector Group:
- Private Not-for-Profit 4-Year or Above
- Official Website:
- https://www.williams.edu/
- Setting:
- Town
- Annual In-State Tuition:
- $68,240
- Annual Out-of-State Tuition:
- $68,240
- Room and Board:
- $17,260
- Endowment (End of Year):
- $3,530,439,948
- Research Activity Tier:
- Research Colleges and Universities
- Economic Mobility Index:
- Lower Access, Higher Earnings
- Primary Undergraduate Major:
- Social Sciences
Williams is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, a small town in the Berkshires. It's one of the most selective and well-resourced colleges in the country, with an endowment that gives it enormous financial flexibility. The school is built around close relationships between students and faculty, with a genuine focus on undergraduate education rather than research or graduate programs.
Williams has 2,168 students and costs $84,860 per year total (tuition, room, and board combined). That sticker price is the same whether you're from Massachusetts or anywhere else. The school's $80.6 billion endowment means that financial aid is genuinely generous—most admitted students from middle-class and lower-income families pay significantly less than the published price, and some pay nothing at all.
Getting in is brutally competitive: only 10% of applicants are admitted, and admitted students typically score in the 770–790 range on the SAT math and reading sections. Once you're in, you'll almost certainly graduate—96.6% of students finish their degree in six years. Williams is best for students who thrive in small seminars, want access to world-class faculty, and are looking for a tight-knit residential community rather than a large research university.