{"id":170492,"date":"2025-09-16T14:01:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T18:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=170492"},"modified":"2025-09-19T13:29:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T17:29:47","slug":"bates-to-waive-all-application-fees-for-prospective-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2025\/09\/16\/bates-to-waive-all-application-fees-for-prospective-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Bates to waive all application fees for prospective students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bates College will waive the admission application fee, beginning with the Fall 2025 pool of applicants. Previously, domestic applicants paid a $65 application fee but could request to have that fee waived based on their financial needs. The change to no fee for any applicants is effective immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Admission
Admission tour guide Mary DeWitt \u201826 of Litchfield, Maine, leads a group campus tour down Alumni Walk. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so pleased that all our prospective students will be able to apply to Bates fee-free,\u201d said Leigh Weisenburger, the former vice president for enrollment and dean of admission, now serving as the college\u2019s vice president for institutional affairs<\/a>. \u201cThis shift fits with Bates\u2019 mission-driven and long-standing commitment to access and affordability. At a time in a student\u2019s life when there is a lot on their mind and many details to attend to \u2014 particularly with regard to the college application process \u2014 removing a step and that cost will be meaningful and have a direct impact. We are proud to provide this access to our Bates applicants in the name of equity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bates is one of 75 colleges in the United States that meets the full demonstrated need of all admitted and enrolled students. As part of its ongoing commitment to remove barriers to college access, application for admission, and enrollment, Bates announced earlier this year<\/a> that it has partnered with QuestBridge, a national nonprofit that connects high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with leading institutions of higher education. For prospective students within the QuestBridge process, there are no application fees, and Weisenburger said eliminating the application fee for all<\/em> prospective Bates students, including those applying as transfer students, was a logical next step toward greater access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bates
During a Bates Summer Visit Day, students join a campus tour on the Historic Quad. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Bates Admission, this change represents a removal of what was understood to be a likely barrier. \u201cAn application fee could discourage some students, particularly from low-income backgrounds, from even considering certain institutions,\u201d said Director of Admission Darryl Uy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bates has long offered an opportunity for students to ask for an application fee waiver, but in the complexities of the application process, Uy said many students still might not know that it’s possible to request that waiver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd even for those who are aware, the process of requesting an application fee waiver can feel like a burden or an additional hoop to jump through,\u201d Uy added. He said Bates’ decision to eliminate the application fee addresses all of these issues and underscores the college’s commitment to access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWe\u2019re really looking forward to this coming application season,\u201d Uy said. \u201cWe expect to be meeting, as always, very talented students, but a wider group than before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bates College will waive the admission application fee, beginning with the Fall 2025 pool of applicants. Previously, domestic applicants paid a $65 application fee and could request to have the fee waived based on their financial needs. The change is effective immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1917,"featured_media":170512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1917"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170492"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170520,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170492\/revisions\/170520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}