Historic Gift Allows Washington and Lee University to Adopt Need-Blind Admissions Policy Alumnus Bill Miller donates $132 million to expand access and affordability.

Office of Communications
October 24, 2024

Washington and Lee University announced today that it will no longer consider students’ or families’ ability to pay when evaluating applications for undergraduate admission thanks to a $132 million gift from investor, philanthropist and W&L alumnus William H. “Bill” Miller III.

Miller’s extraordinary gift is the single largest in the university’s history and one of the largest dedicated to financial aid at any private liberal arts college. It allows W&L to implement a need-blind admissions policy for all undergraduate students while maintaining its existing commitments to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need and to do so with aid packages that do not include loans. W&L becomes one of a small number of highly selective colleges and universities able to do all three.

“Bill Miller’s historic gift will secure Washington and Lee’s ability to attract and educate the strongest students,” said Washington and Lee University President William C. Dudley. “We are incredibly grateful to Bill for his steadfast belief in the value of a liberal arts education and his visionary support of the university’s future. This gift will change the lives of W&L students for generations to come.”

Washington and Lee’s longstanding commitment to financial aid, the W&L Promise, assures that undergraduate students whose families have an annual household income of less than $150,000 pay no tuition, and those whose families have an annual household income of less than $75,000 pay no tuition, room or board. Miller’s gift will support financial aid for undergraduate students based on their accomplishments, potential for success and need, allowing W&L to increase access and reduce financial barriers to students applying to the selective liberal arts university. W&L’s substantial financial aid resources also help provide its students with the full college experience, including study abroad, internships and research opportunities.

“We are so grateful to be able to make student talent the singular focus of our admissions process, and to eliminate students’ ability to pay as a factor in admissions decisions,” said Sally Stone Richmond, Washington and Lee’s vice president for admissions and financial aid. “Thanks to Bill’s astonishing generosity, W&L’s distinctive education will be accessible and affordable for talented and curious students from all walks of life.”

Miller earned a B.A. in economics from Washington and Lee, where he graduated with honors in 1972. Following graduation, he served as a military intelligence officer overseas and then pursued graduate studies in philosophy in the Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins University. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1986.

He founded Miller Value Partners LLC and LMM LLC in 2018, serving as chairman and chief investment officer of both companies. Before founding Miller Value Partners, he co-founded Legg Mason Capital Management and served as portfolio manager, then as sole manager, of the Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust. He also served as director of research for Legg Mason from 1981 until 1985 and assumed overall responsibility for Legg Mason’s equity funds management division in 1990. Before joining Legg Mason, he served as treasurer of the JE Baker Company. He retired from Miller Value Partners in 2023.

Miller serves on the Boards of Trustees of Johns Hopkins University and the Santa Fe Institute, where he has also made generous charitable contributions. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Washington and Lee in 2012 and has made previous gifts to create the William Miller Endowment to support visiting speakers on campus, the Charles C. Holbrook Jr. ’72 Professorship, as well as supporting the Annual Fund and a range of other initiatives at W&L.

Washington and Lee awarded its highest honor, the Washington Award, to Miller on Thursday, Oct. 24. The Washington Award was established in 2001 and recognizes extraordinary acts of philanthropy in support of W&L and other institutions and distinguished leadership and service to the nation.

“The liberal arts education I received from Washington and Lee instilled in me values and habits of mind that have enriched my life and are the basis of much of my professional success,” said Miller. “I am pleased that this gift will make the same education attainable for students who share W&L’s core values of honor, integrity and civility and who bring different points of view, life experiences and talents that will contribute to a fuller and richer college experience. Being need-blind will allow Washington and Lee to attract the most highly sought-after students with a simple and powerful message: Your financial circumstances, however modest, will not prevent you from attending W&L. I hope my gift will inspire others to support this outstanding university.”

“Washington and Lee is exceptionally fortunate to have loyal, wise and generous alumni like Bill who are wholeheartedly devoted to the excellence of the university and the success of our students,” said Dudley. “I speak for our entire campus community in expressing our profound gratitude for Bill’s role in expanding access to W&L, which powerfully advances our mission to prepare students for lifelong learning, personal achievement, responsible leadership, service to others and engaged citizenship in a global and diverse society.”