Fairfield University and Williams College are partnering to expand educational pathways for students enrolled in the University’s two-year associate’s degree program, Fairfield Bellarmine, which welcomed its first cohort of students in the fall of 2023.

The Fairfield Bellarmine program offers two-year associate’s degrees to students from the Greater Bridgeport region, as a foundation for their pursuit of a bachelor's degree, or as a pathway to enter the workforce. The program currently offers four majors sponsored by Fairfield’s four undergraduate schools: Business (Charles F. Dolan School of Business); Computer Science (School of Engineering & Computing); Health Studies (Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies); and Liberal Studies (College of Arts & Sciences).

Through this new partnership, Williams College will recognize a Fairfield Bellarmine applicant’s enrollment experience at Bellarmine to be evidence of enhanced rigor in academic preparation for transfer, and will offer scholarship opportunities to meet full demonstrated need for students interested in pursuing a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree at Williams.

Williams College joins Albertus Magnus College and Fairfield University as partners in Bellarmine transfer admission. Seamless transfer and scholarship opportunities are available for Bellarmine students who wish to continue their studies at Albertus, and Fairfield has committed to reserving 35 fully funded undergraduate positions annually for Bellarmine students to extend their studies two more years toward completion of a bachelor’s degree.

“We are delighted to partner with Williams College in creating pathways to a four-year degree for our exceptional students, who will be attracted to Williams’ top-ranked programs and its commitment to welcoming and supporting students from diverse backgrounds,” said Fairfield Bellarmine Executive Director Rev. Kevin O’Brien, S.J.

Fairfield Bellarmine administrators continue to work on establishing additional agreements with institutions to expand opportunities for Bellarmine graduates to further their studies without interruption and earn a bachelor’s degree within four years. Transfer agreements with partner schools ensure that credits earned at Fairfield Bellarmine are accepted into comparable degree programs.

About Williams College

Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second-oldest institution of higher education in Massachusetts. The campus is home to approximately 2,100 students who develop close intellectual and personal relationships, learning from and alongside some of theworld’s leading scholars. Williams’ faculty is devoted to teaching, mentoring, and scholarly research. The college offers one of the most generous financial aid programs in the country. Admission decisions for U.S. students are made regardless of their ability to pay; once they are here, the college meets 100% of the demonstrated need of all students regardless of citizenship. More than half of our students receive aid, and the college recently implemented the country’s first all-grant financial aid program, replacing the work-study, packaged loans, and summer earnings portion of financial aid with institutional grants.