Tuition, Cost & Aid

Smith is pricey, and sometimes with current budget cuts forcing maintenance to be pushed back and and facility hours to be shortened, you do feel a little shortchanged. But if you're taking full advantage of all the academic and extracurricular opportunities that you want, it's worth it.

Smith is expensive, not gonna lie. However, for what you pay (or earn in scholarships and aid), there's quite a bit available. The meal plan is basically an unlimited three meals a day, so you can eat as much as you want (not always a good thing...it's easy to overeat if you're not careful) in any dining hall. You can even go to multiple dining halls during one mealtime--and it's all covered by your room and board. Houses are pretty nice compared to the average college dorm. You can take up to five academic classes per semester (though most people don't take more than four classes at once), and there are a lot of one-credit exercise classes that you can do, which are also absolutely free because they're covered in your tuition. Besides access to four libraries on campus (plus the ability to use your card at any of the 5-College libraries) and the athletic center, you also can use your OneCard to take the bus to any other 5-College school completely free (this is covered by the SGA in your student activities fee). You can take classes at these other schools, join a club there, etc. There's also a 2,000 Praxis internship stipend available to every single student so that you can go get a cool internship sometime during your four years (usually around sophomore year) and be able to afford not getting paid. Basically, Smith has a ton of stuff available to you at little to no extra cost. It's just up to you to take advantage of it.

As a financial aid student, I couldn't ask for better. If I was paying the full tuition I would be a bit disappointed with the quality of the food and the difficulty in finding support services like counseling or resident life staff.

Smith is expensive. But, with such a giant endowment, almost everyone receives some type of financial aid. Our work-study program is huge, and I think I only know two people who aren't on scholarship (although it's not really my go-to topic of conversation). The quality of education is excellent and the connections you get from going here are extensive. Smith isn't a huge school, but alumnae are always willing to lend a fellow Smith person a hand.

Smith is EXTREMELY expensive. For the most part, students feel like they are getting a bang for their buck. Room and Board covers our very nice dorms (Dorms Like Palaces) and The Board Plan, which includes three meals a day at the 15 or so dining halls on campus. There is also a lot of diversity in our meals, including food for vegans and those who prefer their meals to be gluten'free. Warning: if you really like meat, beware! Also, there are a great many resources on campus, from the CDO (Career Development Office) which will help you put together your resume to our Art, Performing Arts, Science, and general libraries. Not going to lie though...there will be times when I ask myself again, why are we all paying 50k?

It really depends on how much financial aid you get. I got FANTASTIC aid so I have no complaints but I also have friends paying full tuition (which is A LOT-then again, they are v wealthy).

Smith will make you a Woman.
Or, if you prefer a more non-gendered approach, Smith will make you a strong, capable, independent, intelligent, successful and imaginative individual with an mind wide open to the world.

Since this is a private school, it is pretty pricey. However, Smith is known to give general financial aid and there are programs like STRIDE and AEMES that give out scholarships (used to replace work-study) to a certain number of scholars for two years. Most of my friends said that this was one of their biggest driving factors in coming to Smith. The food is sometimes questionable. No doubt, the food is better than a lot of the other campus dining foods. We also have many dining options like vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and kosher. The food is not always great and the dining hours are not flexible. Sometimes, I question whether the food is worth the money. However, if you look at everything else, it may be more understandable. Smith has houses, not dorms. The houses are for the most part gorgeous and the rooms are bigger than most dorm rooms. We usually get to pick the rooms through a lottery system so it is fair. There are three main divisions: Elm Street, Green Street, and the Quad. Each of these divisions have its ups and downs. I have to say though, many of my friends are jealous of the big room I have compared to the dorm rooms that they live in. Yes, the cost is high, but what you get in return is overall worth it. Don't forget to apply for financial aid though!

Financial Aid is awesome!

Smith is really really really expensive. It's hard to afford tuition without some kind of financial aid. But the academic quality makes it worthwhile as well as the opportunities that are available to you here such as the PRAXIS internship and Junior Year Abroad. The financial aid office will work with you if you make them.