Holy Cross becomes latest Worcester college to partially cut application fee

PHOTO/GRANT WELKER The College of the Holy Cross campus in Worcester

Write a Comment

The College of the Holy Cross has joined several other Worcester universities in cutting its application fee for certain students.

On Aug. 1, Holy Cross eliminated the $60 application fee for students from Worcester Public Schools, the college announced Wednesday.

Holy Cross is one of the few Worcester colleges still requiring a fee for applicants, according to individual college websites and the Higher Education Consortium Central MA.

Assumption University has no application fee. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Clark University, MCPHS University, and Quinsigamond Community College don’t charge a fee to domestic applicants. Worcester State University waives its $50 fee if applicants complete an on-campus visit.

Anna Maria College in Paxton, which like Holy Cross is a Catholic institute of higher education, waives its $25 fee for applicants from Worcester Public School students and for those with financial challenges. Anna Maria provides students with a $500 visit grant if they visit campus with the admissions staff before May 1 of their senior year.

Holy Cross already provides fee waivers for qualifying applicants, but the decision to eliminate the $60 fee for WPS students comes after Holy Cross became a QuestBridge partner college, joining 48 other universities around the country who are committed to enrolling students from low-income families. Other institutions who are part of QuestBridge, which is based in California, include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University in North Carolina, Boston University, and Stanford University in California.

“By waiving the application fee for Worcester Public School students, we aim to encourage more academically qualified students to explore and apply to Holy Cross, one of the nation’s top liberal arts institutions,” Holy Cross President Vincent Rougeau said in the Wednesday announcement. “We also seek to eliminate financial barriers that could prevent high-achieving local students from applying to the college, and reaffirm our commitment to the community we all call home.”

At the end of fiscal 2022, Holy Cross completed its 18-month Hope + Access Campaign for Financial Aid, which was aimed at improving access to the college. The effort raised $56 million.

WBJ Staff Writer Timothy Doyle contributed to this story.