| Abstrakt: |
This article traces the development of Smith College's program for returning women from 1968 through 1985. Guided by Smith's feminist president, Jill Conway, the elite women’s college offered full financial aid packages to support women welfare recipients and their dependent children through a complete undergraduate education. The program garnered national attention as a model for expanding college access to one of the nation's least-well served populations. Three key aspects of the program’s development are considered: Conway's top-down support of continuing education, which was crucial to the program's success; the mechanisms by which the College was able to circumvent restrictive welfare policies and implement a novel approach to educating the poor; and the broader aims of the Ada Comstock Scholars Program as a national model for both informing public policy and expanding college access. The work draws on archival sources, an interview with Conway, and secondary literature. |
