Amherst College

National College Match Scholarship Package

These numbers are based on estimated costs for the 2022-2023 school year. Amounts will change slightly from year to year, but as the cost of college increases, the scholarship packages will correspondingly increase.

Policy on Outside Funding
Amherst allows outside funding and employer tuition benefits to first replace self-help (work), rather than scholarship, in a financial aid award. Outside funding in excess of work will reduce the Amherst College scholarship aid that would otherwise be provided. With the scholarship sponsor's permission, outside funding can be deferred to subsequent years, or used to purchase a personal computer to minimize the Amherst College scholarship reduction. Outside funding cannot be used to replace the expected family contribution.

Policy on Health Insurance
The state of Massachusetts requires all students to have health insurance. If a student is not covered by an insurance plan or if the coverage is not substantially equivalent while at Amherst, the Amherst grant will be increased to pay for the $2,759 student health insurance plan (2022-2023 school year). Amherst will also cover up to $5,000 per year of unreimbursed medical/dental expenses, if needed.

Policy on Travel Allowance
The transportation component of the cost of attendance varies from $50-$2,500, depending upon your location. For locations where the transportation allowance is less than the $1,000 student income/summer savings expectation, the $1,000 student income contribution is intended to cover transportation and part of your personal expenses. For locations where the transportation allowance is greater than $1,000, the Amherst College scholarship covers part of these transportation expenses.

Policy on Student Contribution
The standard earning contribution increases modestly for all students in the upper class years.

Students may replace a shortfall in the $1,000 student income/summer savings expectation with a loan or additional work in any year. Once during four years, Amherst will replace the expected summer income contribution with a scholarship if the student spends the summer doing unpaid community service work or an unpaid internship with no compensation or fellowship, stipend, or other support.

Music scholarships are available to cover the cost of for-credit music lessons.

Requirements Associated with Maintaining this Award
Amherst will select students through the National College Match whose parents qualify for a zero contribution to the cost of an Amherst education. Students can use the cost estimator/calculator on the Amherst financial aid website to assist in determining financial eligibility for the Match. QuestBridge candidates who do not meet this financial threshold are encouraged to apply as Early or Regular Decision candidates and, as with all students offered admission and qualifying for aid, have their full demonstrated financial need met for four years, without student loans. All financial aid recipients are required to reapply for aid annually with updated financial documents. As long as a Match continues to qualify for need-based financial aid, the terms of the Match Scholarship will not change. In addition, students must maintain satisfactory academic progress, as evidenced by their ability to continue enrollment at Amherst.

Special Note
The above budget presents typical expenses for an Amherst student for the 2021-2022 academic year. This budget is used by the Office of Financial Aid to calculate financial need and to determine financial aid awards.

The award notification is not official unless it comes from Amherst College; the QuestBridge "award letter" does not represent a commitment from the College.

For more information see the Amherst College Office of Financial Aid website.