Roofie Dabie Konshie ’28, an economics major, found her place at Pomona College after participating in Explore Pomona, a fly-in program that introduces admitted students who applied for financial aid to campus life. Flying from Arkansas for a two-day campus visit included a stay with a current Pomona student and gave Konshie the chance to observe classes and meet professors during office hours.
“During my visit to Pomona, I met many faculty members and students, and I noticed how close-knit the relationships are between professors and students,” she says.
“I believe that this environment is ideal for my education, and I’ve found that the strong connections I’ve made with professors have made my experience at Pomona very rewarding.”
Pomona was one of Konshie’s top choices, but the deciding factor was the opportunity to work with Pomona’s Financial Aid Office to better understand her family’s finances and provide aid support in her financial aid package.
“It is sometimes assumed that a private college education such as Pomona’s, one of the world’s top liberal arts institutions, is financially unaffordable for many families,” says Vice President of Admissions and Financial Aid Jonathan B. Williams. “However, our commitment to providing need-based financial aid to every admitted student who demonstrates financial need fundamentally enhances Pomona’s accessibility and affordability.”
At Pomona, financial aid packages are tailored to meet individual family circumstances, ranging from partial scholarships to full-cost-of-attendance coverage, ensuring that the College remains attainable for a wide spectrum of income levels. Pomona has a long history of opening doors to low-income students but is now expanding its reach to middle-income families as well.
Konshie received the Annexstad Family Foundation Scholarship, which provides essential support for unexpected expenses during her college journey. Her mother is a certified nursing assistant, and her father works as a caregiver—both dedicating long hours to help their family relocate from Arkansas to Oregon and achieve the milestone of homeownership. “Some days, I wake up, look around campus, and can’t believe this is my college,” says Konshie.
During her first year, Konshie undertook an externship in process design and strategy consulting at Stanford Health alongside an on-campus education internship at the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College.
Konshie was recently awarded Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) funding to conduct in-depth qualitative and quantitative research on the experiences of the Ethiopian diaspora in the United States. Her research will explore how Ethiopian immigrants navigate and thrive within various U.S. cities.
Financial considerations can pose a significant concern for working families like the Konshies. For eligible students, the offer of financial aid is composed of grant aid that does not need to be paid back and a modest student employment allotment. While loans are available, Pomona does not use loans to meet a student’s financial need, making Pomona one of a handful of institutions in the nation committed to true affordability for low- and middle-income families. As a result, the College provides some of the most competitive financial aid packages among leading liberal arts institutions. For most students with family incomes of $150,000 or less with typical assets, Pomona’s financial assistance covers the full cost of tuition.
More than half of Pomona’s 1,753 enrolled students received financial aid last year. This translates to a total of $68.6 million in scholarships and grants for Pomona students in the 2024-25 academic year. The average financial aid package was $72,099 (with the cost of attendance at $89,414).
Last spring, Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr announced the Middle Income Initiative, a program designed to increase middle-income student enrollment at Pomona by making a Pomona education more financially accessible. As part of this commitment, Sam ’04 and Emily ’04 Glick recently pledged $2.47 million to support financial aid for Pomona students from middle-income families.
“As an incoming student, when I had to explain my financial aid situation [to the College], they always picked up the phone when I called. They always answered my email. They listened and helped,” Konshie says. “I felt my circumstances were hard to understand, but they listened. I wouldn’t be here today if they hadn’t.”
Pomona is committed to offering comprehensive guidance and support and making the admissions and financial aid process as clear as possible. Prospective students are encouraged to explore the financial aid resources for an in-depth estimate of the cost to attend Pomona by using the MyinTuition and Net Price Calculator on the Financial Aid website.