Policies and Procedures
Students receiving financial aid from Williams College can take advantage of studying away -Williams-Oxford, 12 College Exchange Program, and study overseas as well as within the United States. Financial aid eligibility can be applied to your study away program, provided your plans receive approval by the Committee on Academic Standing (CAS), via the Dean's Office.
The Financial Aid application process remains the same as though you would be attending Williams. The same documents are required and the same Williams deadlines apply. In addition you will need to submit the Study Away Budget Proposal Form. You should submit the Study Away Budget Proposal and back up documentation for Year and Fall 2009 away programs before you leave campus in May 2009 (or as soon as your plan is approved and the costs are finalized). For Spring 2010 programs you should submit the Study Away Budget Proposal and back up documentation by December 1, 2009 (or as soon as your plan is approved and the costs are finalized). If you have not been accepted or approved for a study away program, do not submit a tentative budget.When filling out applications to renew outside scholarships, i.e., National Merit, Elks, etc. indicate that you will be at Williams next year. Since Williams will grant academic credit for study away programs, you are technically enrolled at Williams.
From the Bursar's Office
For students who receive financial aid or loans and who study away for one or both terms during 2009-2010, the Bursar’s Office will forward your financial aid credits to your program or host institution.
Study Away Bills
As soon as you receive a bill for your study away program, please forward a copy of it to the Bursar’s Office, Williams College, PO Box 406, Williamstown, MA 01267. As your financial aid is posted to your student account at Williams, the Bursar will forward this credit to your program or host institution as directed. Any balance due to your study away program after all of your financial aid has been transferred will be your responsibility.
Past-due Balances at Williams
Any past-due balance on your Williams student account will be satisfied before any payments are made on your behalf to your study away program. The amount sent to your program will not exceed the total of your financial aid and loans for the term less any balance still due Williams.
Credit Balances
If your Williams account has a credit balance after your study away program has been paid, you may request a refund either by submitting a Student Account Refund Request Form or by e-mailing the Bursar at David.W.Holland@williams.edu.
We encourage you to sign up to have your student account credit balance direct deposited to your bank account, if you have not already done so. Complete instructions about this process are available on the Controller’s Office website (http://www.williams.edu/admin/controller/dd/).
If you have any questions, please contact David Holland at the e-mail address above, or at (413) 597-4396.
Health Insurance
To prepare for your trip abroad, you should attend to a few details with regard to your insurance coverage. You need to have health insurance that will cover the costs associated with unanticipated medical care while you are away. In addition, you should seriously consider purchasing a special policy that provides coverage for medical assistance and evacuation. Please read the following for more detailed information.
Your health insurance should provide you with coverage for the costs associated with the medical care you may require while studying abroad, such as: physician office visits, emergency services, hospital inpatient and outpatient services, diagnostic testing services and prescription drugs.
Please take the time to do the following before you leave so you are prepared in the event that you need medical care while you are away.
- Become familiar with your policy so you know what medical services are covered and what medical services are excluded.
- Check to see if your policy has any territorial limits that will prevent it from covering services beyond the continental U.S. The Williams College student health insurance plan has no territorial limits, so it will cover medical services received outside of the U.S.
- Be sure you have a current I.D. card from your insurance company.
- Get some claim forms, if applicable, and understand the procedures you need to follow to submit bills for reimbursement to your insurance company. Most plans, including the College’s, will require that you translate the bills and receipts into English and U.S. dollars before submitting them for reimbursement. If your coverage is through an HMO, you may need to follow specific procedures for getting approval in advance of receiving care. Contact your insurer for more information.
If you wish to enroll in the College’s student plan for the period of time you are studying abroad, you must completed an enrollment form and submit it to the director of health services. The College will not automatically enroll students on leave for this coverage. If you have any questions, please call the Williams College Health Center (413) 597-2206.
Determination of Aid
Your family contribution, including your student summer earnings expectation, remains the same as though you are attending Williams. A less expensive program of study does not affect the calculation of your expected family contribution.
The Office of Financial Aid will use your study away budget, up to the cost of attending Williams, whichever is lower, to determine your need for Williams scholarship assistance. You will not receive more Williams scholarship if your budget is higher than the cost of attending Williams. However, it may be possible to offset a higher cost by increasing the student loan component of your package.
Your award is based on your study away budget less your family contribution. Your total self-help (campus job) expectation will be the same as if at Williams. Whenever possible, we will replace the normal job expectation with additional student loan. In cases where the study away budget is significantly lower than the Williams budget, the loan component will be reduced proportionately.
If your study away program offers financial assistance, we strongly urge you to apply. In the event that you receive some scholarship assistance from your program, it will be used to reduce the student loan portion of your award.
Because students often underestimate their study away expenses, you need to make sure that you have accounted for all of your expenses on your Study Away Budget Proposal. Contact the representative from your study away program to get actual billed costs as well as estimates for expenses for which you are not directly charged. Most programs publish this information on their websites.
Disbursement of Aid
Financial Aid awards are normally completed by July 1, if your financial aid application is complete. If you enroll in the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford University, or the Associated Kyoto Program, you will receive a bill directly from Williams and normal procedures for payment apply. If you enroll in any other program, you will not receive a bill from Williams College. In order to assure timely payment of your study away program bill, you must submit a copy of the bill from your study away program to Mr. David W. Holland, Bursar. You should keep the original bill, as you and your parents may also be required to pay a portion of the billed expenses.
Upon receipt of a copy of the bill from your study away program, the Bursar will send a check directly to your program. The payment will be sent in mid-August for the fall portion of your Williams Scholarship. Federal and state grants will be forwarded once they can be applied to your student account according to federal and state regulation. If you are away for the year or second semester, a check for your spring aid will be sent in mid-December. Any outside scholarship(s), student loan and parent loan proceeds must be received by the Bursar before payment can be forwarded to your study away program. When these funds are received by Williams, the Bursar will send a subsequent payment(s).
If you have a student loan in your package and need to sign a new promissory note, the promissory note will be included with your financial aid award. Your signed promissory note must be returned before your departure. If you experience a shortfall in your summer earnings and need to make up the difference with additional student loan, you must immediately complete and return the Financial Aid Review Form that will be enclosed with your financial aid award.
In some cases, the total financial aid credits will exceed the billed charges of the program resulting in a credit balance on your student account. A Williams College Student Account Refund Request Form will be enclosed with your financial aid award to facilitate the processing of your credit-balance refund. You must complete this form and send it to the Office of the Bursar, Williams College, PO Box 406, Williamstown, MA 01267.
Helpful Hints
Many programs require a deposit. If this creates a hardship for you and your family, please contact the Office of Financial Aid. Usually a letter from Financial Aid to the program will be sufficient to reduce or delay this deposit. You will need to bring a copy of your acceptance letter (or email) so that we know who to contact.
Prepare your Study Away Budget Proposal with accurate cost projections. You must do the research for your expenses. Former participants in your program can be a good source of information regarding ‘real’ costs as well as the website from your program and/or representatives from your program. Another source is the Dean’s Office, which has a record of student impressions from different programs.
Thoroughly check costs that are not billed by the program, including off-campus housing and food, commuter travel, required field trips and expenses associated with breaks and vacations. You must notify the Office of Financial Aid regarding changes to your original budget in writing and with proper documentation of any changes before your departure or early in the semester so that we may adjust your award accordingly.
Anticipate that you will have currency exchange and banking problems. Determine the best way of taking and receiving money overseas. Check with major banks in your home area to see if they have a branch overseas. Add a parent name (signature) to your savings/checking account so that deposits and withdrawals can be made in your absence.
Check to see if you will be covered under your parents’ health insurance policy while you are out of the country. If you will be covered, determine how claims should be handled if you require hospitalization, a doctor’s care or medication. If you will not be covered under your parents’ policy, you can subscribe to the health insurance offered by Williams College. If you are already covered by the Williams policy, coverage will continue while you are studying away. In either case, thoroughly investigate your coverage as well as the insurance offered by your specific program. There may be additional benefits offered by a program’s insurance that are not normally included in your parents’ policy or the Williams insurance plan. Be sure to check them out completely and ask questions if you do not understand your options. A program may request that you purchase ‘evacuation’ insurance in case an emergency departure is required (for health reasons or political unrest). The Dean’s Office also requests that you purchase the ISID (International Student Identification) card available through CIEE. Contact the Dean’s Office for details.
If you do not currently have a passport, apply for one immediately.
Make two copies of all important identification papers (passport, drivers license, Williams College ID card, Youth Hostel card, etc.). Carry the originals on your person. Leave one set of copies at home with your parents and place the other set in your room or luggage. If the originals are lost or stolen at least you will have copies available until new identification can be obtained.
Plan ahead regarding where and when you will exchange your U.S. dollars for foreign currency. Many exchange houses charge a commission and it is possible to lose money in the transaction.
Be aware of the prevailing monetary exchange rate before you depart and when you arrive. If the U.S. dollar value drops significantly, please notify the Office of Financial Aid at once.
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