Trustees Increase Tuition by 1.9%

The Academy’s trustees will approve this spring to raise the tuition by 1.9 percent: from $46,899 to $47,790 for boarders and from $35,750 to $36,800 for day students.Each year, the administration convenes, with the trustees, to discuss the following year’s tuition. Although an increase to an already staggering amount of money may seem unnecessary, the latest tuition updates have consistently been under the inflation rates, which reached 2.2 percent from November, 2012 to November, 2013. In this sense, the Academy has worked to balance the needs of the Academy for funds as well as the natural desire of Exonians to not extend the tuition any higher.“Trustees in recent years have maintained that relative position of our tuition but not because we get caught up with comparisons or that we are even concerned about comparisons,” President of the Trustees Tom Hutton said. “We try to keep tuition increases low, for one simple reason: we want to make Exeter available [and] affordable to as many students and families as possible. We want our student body to reflect capability and ambition to do great things for the world, not family financial status.”Hutton continued, noting the various limitations that the Academy is hoping to strike an equilibrium with.“These constraints include affordability for those families paying tuition, our desire to provide Financial Aid to as many candidates as qualify, our desire to support an outstanding faculty, staff and campus; and overall, to fulfill our mission of providing an experience of academic excellence and goodness to the most qualified candidates from all quarters,” Hutton said.In order to formulate the new tuition, a committee including the trustees, Principal Tom Hassan and Chief Financial Officer David Hanson met to examine projected expenses, including salaries and facilities operations, as well as the projected income from the endowment and financial gifts.When deciding on the tuition, the committee especially took into account the accessibility of an educational experience at Exeter for families burdened by the rising tuition costs.“The issue of the affordability of Exeter for middle income families has been a concern of ours for many years,” Hassan said. “In the 1990s, Exeter was a pioneer in making sure that more middle income families qualified for and were granted aid. Since then, we are proud of the fact that about half of our robust financial aid assistance goes to families who fall into the middle income category.”Once the committee considered the myriad of factors that played a role in the tuition cost, it settled on an increase that seems relatively small compared to those of other New England schools.“After careful thought and conversation this year, the Trustees voted a 1.9 percent increase, a relatively modest increase that will continue to keep Exeter’s tuition at the lowest end of schools like ours,” Hassan said.Director of Financial Aid John Hutchins agreed and said that the administration recognizes the possible financial burden it might place with a high increase in tuition. However he added that this year’s tuition increase is the lowest it has been in recent Exeter history.“The 1.9 percent increase this year is small from both a historical perspective for Exeter and relative to our peer institutions,” Hutchins said. “I, for one, am pleased with the modest tuition increase as it keeps Exeter's tuition at the lowest end relative to peer institutions.”In addition to a raised cost for students, the committee also determined that faculty should receive an on average raise of 2.1 percent, which is 0.9 percent above the year’s inflation rate of 1.1 percent. Although the pay increase is appreciated by faculty, some saw it as not an outstanding increase when related to inflation.“I am sorry that the trustees did not choose to value the faculty's hard work with at least a raise of CPI plus 1 percent,” science instructor Townley Chisholm said. “They have told us that teacher salaries, like all middle class salaries, are stagnating nationwide and that PEA cannot afford to pay salaries at above-market rates.”Along with faculty salaries, the financial aid budget was increased as well. According to Hutchins, the specific amount in dollars has not yet been approved, but the increase is definite. “The final budget will be approved at the spring board meeting, by which time the actual number of financial aid recipients we can expect next year will be clear,” Hutchins said.Hutchins added that regardless of the increase in financial aid budget or the tuition, all students receiving financial aid should expect the same amount for next year, unless there is a change in their family's financial statuses.“All financial aid recipients reapply each year and are re-evaluated as part of that process,” Hutchins said. “Barring any significant changes in their financial situation, families can anticipate the same level of support year to year.”Regarding the 1.9 percent increase in tuition, however, many students felt that the administration is being unreasonable and inconsiderate of the families who might be burdened by the current amount of tuition.“I think that it is not reasonable considering we have a billion dollar endowment as a school, to add on the financial burden, by charging families even more money, considering the tuition is already very expensive and the number of recipients of financial aid will not be increased,” lower Meena Jagadeesan said.Senior Philip Decker agreed with Jagadeesan’s sentiments and noted the conflict of the necessity of the tuition increase and the financial burden of the current families.“I don't feel that a tuition raise is necessary right now. Inflation is low and a raise of nearly a thousand dollars may be abrupt for students whose families struggle to pay all or part of the tuition fee,” Decker said. “There are other means to accumulate funds, and if the Academy wishes to begin new, expensive projects, it should make an effort to cut costs in other areas and put aside savings for those projects. While tuition raises are necessary in a long term view, making them too frequent burdens students.”