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Say Yes to Education Inc., a national non-profit organization that helps children in urban school districts to go to and pay for college, announced that Hamilton College and 10 other private colleges and universities have joined  the organization’s higher education compact, which offers free tuition to eligible students. The announcement was made  at a media event on Capitol Hill by George Weiss, founder of Say Yes to Education, and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

In the final chapter of its 200th anniversary observance, Hamilton concluded its on June 30, 2013, with gifts and pledges of $139.8 million.  Bicentennial Initiatives was centered on the College’s three most pressing priorities: student financial aid, growing unrestricted support through the Annual Fund.

Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Monica Inzer will make her third appearance on NBC’s Today Show on Thursday, April 11.  Financial aid, choosing a college, taking a gap year and wait lists are among possible topics that will be addressed by Inzer, Arizona State University Executive Director of Admission David Burge and University of Michigan Undergraduate Admissions Director Ted Spencer. The segment is tentatively scheduled for 8:35 a.m. {Update: The segment has been moved to 8:10 a.m.}

Hamilton College’s Bicentennial Initiatives campaign exceeded its $117 million goal 16 months ahead of its scheduled conclusion on June 30, 2013. The funds raised in the first two years of this brief three-year effort now surpass $119 million.

Hamilton’s STOP Day, celebrated recently on Feb. 23, was the subject of a Chronicle of Higher Education feature article, “Hey, Students, Your Education Costs More Than You Might Think,” published on March 18. Writer Beckie Supiano reported on the day’s purpose, “to raise students' awareness that they all benefit from donations to the college, to ask their help in thanking benefactors, and to prepare them to give back as alumni.”

Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Monica Inzer joined New York Times    education senior editor Jacques Steinberg, on The Today Show to discuss issues related to financial aid on Friday, January 20. Video of this segment can be found on the Times’ admission website, The Choice.

Property developer Stephen Steinberg ’66, a generous supporter of the College, is establishing a $1 million endowment to create the Steinberg-Lalli Scholarship Fund. Students with need who are accepted to Hamilton from the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, the public secondary school in Steinberg’s community, will be given first consideration for support from this fund. Steinberg’s objective is to support Hamilton’s need-blind initiative and encourage students from the Acton and Boxborough area to apply to the college.

Dean of Admission Monica Inzer was joined by Audrey Smith, dean of enrollment at Smith College, and Kathleen Kingsbury, education correspondent for The Daily Beast, for a discussion of admission and financial aid issues on public radio station WNYC on March 22. Inzer was questioned about Hamilton’s decision to go need-blind and how the move would expand access to Hamilton.

At a time when parents are beginning to question whether they can afford a college education for their children, Hamilton has announced that it will make admission decisions without considering an applicant’s ability to pay. The college already meets the full demonstrated need of every student it accepts and will continue to do so. The new policy at Hamilton, which is known as need-blind admission, is effective with the class currently being admitted for the fall of 2010.