Statistics at Williams College

Williams College's elite selectivity doesn't guarantee the earnings trajectory you might expect from a school with a 10% admission rate and 1527 average SAT. While peer programs nationally suggest first-year earnings around $60,000 with modest debt of roughly $17,000, comparable statistics programs in Massachusetts tell a strikingly different story—the state median sits at $105,000, with Harvard grads earning $141,000 and even Smith College reaching $69,000.

The suppressed data here isn't just a technical footnote; it reflects Williams' tiny statistics program and leaves you making decisions based on national estimates rather than actual outcomes from this specific liberal arts context. That $60,000 estimate may understate what Williams' selective environment and alumni network deliver, but it could also overstate outcomes if the program emphasizes theory over the quantitative skills tech employers reward. The debt-to-earnings ratio looks manageable at 0.28, but that assessment rests entirely on whether actual Williams outcomes resemble the national baseline or the Massachusetts reality.

You're essentially betting on Williams' brand and liberal arts model to close a potential $45,000 gap between the national estimate and state median. If your child is set on Williams, consider whether they can supplement the statistics major with computer science or economics coursework that signals practical quantitative skills to employers—or whether a data science track at a university with transparent outcomes would be a safer investment.