Bloomberg Philanthropies Recognizes Wellesley College as an American Talent Initiative High-Flier for Transformative Leadership in College Access and Success for Lower-Income Students
NEW YORK, NY and BOSTON, MA – May 23, 2023 – Bloomberg Philanthropies today recognized Wellesley College as an American Talent Initiative (ATI) High-Flier, a group of 28 high-graduation-rate institutions that are national leaders in college access and success for lower-income students. Wellesley College received the distinction for its leadership in lower-income student enrollment since 2015-16and innovative recruitment, enrollment, and retention practices. Over the next year, ATI and Bloomberg Philanthropies will work with High-Fliers to amplify what they have learned to other four-year colleges and universities across the nation. The full list of ATI’s 28 High-Fliers is listed below.
An initiative led by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program and Ithaka S+R, ATI serves as a growing nationwide alliance of high-graduation-rate colleges and universities grounded in the belief that they can collectively expand access for tens of thousands of high-achieving, lower-income students. By doing so, these institutions are increasing socioeconomic diversity within their respective student communities.
"The economic fallout from the pandemic has made it even more important for schools across the country to adopt innovative new ways to attract and retain students from under-represented backgrounds," said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies and 108th mayor of New York City. “I applaud ATI's 28 High-Fliers for leading the way in this work and increasing the diversity of their campuses. We hope their efforts serve as an example for other schools that are committed to creating opportunity for more lower-income students, so we can accelerate national progress on this critical challenge.”
Since ATI’s launch in 2016, Wellesley College has made notable increases in access and success for lower-income students through commitments to affordability.
Starting in fall 2022, Wellesley College extended its loan policy to remove loans for families earning under $100,000 annually. This builds upon the previous 2008 policy, which eliminated loans for families earning less than $60,000 per year. Wellesley also introduced the Ilene Beal '67 Scholars Program, a four-year pilot initiative supporting 20 high-achieving, primarily first-generation students from under-resourced communities as they transition to Wellesley College.
“Ensuring and expanding access and opportunity through robust need-blind financial aid is at the heart of Wellesley’s mission,” said Paula Johnson, President of Wellesley College. “We are committed to the pursuit of equity and excellence in concert, and our partnership with the American Talent Initiative, catalyzed by generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, has helped us do even more to recruit and enroll the talented and deserving students who bring so much to our campus.”
This progress has been particularly evident in the two years since Wellesley College reaffirmed its commitment to this work through ATI’s Accelerating Opportunity campaign. Along with their fellow ATI members, they set public, aspirational lower-income student enrollment goals for the first time to help combat the lingering impacts of the pandemic. Two years in, Wellesley College has realized its Accelerating Opportunity goal and held its 20% Pell share. They also are advancing a shared commitment among all 137 ATI members to close equity-based retention and graduation gaps.
“Wellesley’s need-blind admission policy enables us to support high-achieving students from a wide range of experiences and backgrounds,” said T. Peaches Valdes, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Wellesley College. “Our investment in student success begins at the time of admission and, with robust student support services, continues through graduation. We are proud to be part of the American Talent Initiative along with this group of outstanding institutions working collaboratively to expand access for these talented students,”
For more information on ATI and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ other initiatives to expand college access and success, please visit: https://www.bloomberg.org/education/expanding-college-access-and-success/.
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List of American Talent Initiative High-Fliers (in alphabetical order)
Baruch College (New York, NY)
Boston University (Boston, MA)
Centre College (Danville, KY)
Claremont McKenna College (Claremont, CA)
Colby College (Waterville, ME)
George Mason University (Fairfax, VA)
Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, PA)
Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, IL)
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
Muhlenberg College (Allentown, PA)
Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
Rowan University (Glassboro, NJ)
State University of New York at Oneonta (Oneonta, NY)
Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ)
Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, NY)
Towson University (Towson, MD)
University of California, Merced (Merced, CA)
University of California, San Diego (San Diego, CA)
University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
University of Dayton (Dayton, OH)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, IL)
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)
University of Texas-Austin (Austin, TX)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI)
Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)
Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA)
Yale University (New Haven, CT)
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About Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $1.7 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org, sign up for our newsletter, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
About the American Talent Initiative
The American Talent Initiative (ATI) is a Bloomberg Philanthropies-supported collaboration between the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, Ithaka S+R, and more than 135 top colleges and universities nationwide committed to making progress toward their Accelerating Opportunity lower-income student enrollment goals by 2025. To realize this milestone, ATI facilitates research, practice-sharing, and communications campaigns around presidential leadership, access and affordability, community college transfer, student veteran engagement, and student success and equity in the academic experience. With this support, members can make measurable progress toward their aspirational lower-income student enrollment goals and minimize equity-based graduation gaps by 2025. To learn more about ATI, visit https://americantalentinitiative.org.
About Wellesley College
Wellesley College provides an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Enrolling some 2,400 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries, Wellesley awards undergraduate degrees in more than 50 departmental and interdepartmental majors. More information: www.wellesley.edu.
Media Contacts
Jamila Johnson, Bloomberg Philanthropies
jamila@bloomberg.org
Adam Rabinowitz, Aspen Institute College Excellence Program
adam.rabinowitz@aspeninstitute.org
