Bachelor's · Williamstown, Massachusetts

Is Economics at Williams College worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $113,582; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $179,032; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $9,750; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $64k (likely $64k – $80k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $136k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in MA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1 years (likely 0.8–1.2); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $1.05M (likely $879k – $1.24M); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $2.63M (likely $2.23M – $3.13M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 95%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: not reported / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20