Students Desire More Extensive Financial Aid

Exonians on financial aid are unsure of how much their Exeter experiences can be supported by the Academy’s finances and where to get help affording Exeter’s implicit expenses like off-campus ventures, formal attire and maintenance of electronic devices.

“Financial Aid refused to help me when my computer was broken,” Jane Doe*, a student on full financial aid, said.

“Financial Aid refused to help me when my computer was broken,” Jane Doe*, a student on full financial aid, said.

Doe had knocked over a glass of water onto her laptop. “I asked [The Financial Aid Office] about it and said that there was no way I could pay for it to be fixed, and they just said that it was my responsibility to take care of that computer,” she said. The Financial Aid Office was unable to help her even though she had not used up the $1,000 on her original laptop stipend. The Office had previously told students, however, that Exeter could not provide stipends to students who accidentally damaged their computer. Doe was eventually able to get help not from the Financial Aid Office but from the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA).

Amanda Sherwood ’18 was unaware that OMA provided financial assistance until her senior year. “OMA covered my prom dress alterations because I couldn’t afford it—it was my senior spring; it was the first and only time I actually utilized OMA,” she said. “If I had OMA before, the numerous times my family struggled to put pennies together to send me something wouldn’t have happened.”

Sherwood explained why students often feel reluctant to ask for help. “People don’t like asking people for help, because then you think you owe somebody something,” she said. “And that’s a very dirty feeling to have.”

This year, 451 Exonians receive need-based financial aid, compared to an average of 468 over the last seven years. “In my role as Director of Admissions, I keep track of how all students, regardless of their financial situation, are doing once they arrive on campus. To do so, I partner closely with offices and faculty members on campus,” Director of Admissions and Financial Aid John Hutchins said.

Every year, the Financial Aid Office issues bookstore stipends, which are set at $900 for most students on aid and to be used exclusively at the Exeter Bookstore. The email specifies that the stipend is only for “books and supplies directly related to your course work at Phillips Exeter Academy.” Students who purchase items not directly related to their coursework may be asked to return the items to the bookstore.

One of the Academy’s five strategic directions is financial inclusion. The Financial Aid Inclusion Committee’s primary focus is “reflecting on financial equity and inclusion as it relates to all students,” as Committee Co-Chair and Dean of Enrollment William Leahy said. “Exeter has a long standing tradition of supporting financial aid students with both tuition and non-tuition related expenses.”

Student Council has previously proposed making the Exeter social experience more equitable through the OneCard program. Though this idea has not been actualized, according to Student Council President and senior Elizabeth Yang, the OneCard program would make the lion card an acceptable form of payment at local businesses, so students on financial aid could allocate aid towards their social lives. “Student Council has been considering incorporating financial aid within the OneCard program,” Yang said. “This could allow students who do not have the financial means to eat out in town experience this aspect of the Exeter experience.”

A commonly-overlooked form of support is financial aid for school-sponsored trips. According to Director of Global Initiatives Eimer Page, admission to all of the term/semester/year programs and some of the vacation programs with earmarked endowments is need-blind, though the school does not yet have “sufficiently robust funding in place” to make all vacation programming need blind. She noted, however, that it is not uncommon for groups to have majority aid participants.

Though full-aid students are generally expected to contribute $200, there have been exceptions in unusual circumstances. “Families facing unexpected circumstances between the application and departure stages can reach out to Mr. Hutchins or to my office to see if a waiver is a possibility,” Page said. “I also want to be aware if other travel requirements such as vaccinations or clothing/gear are a strain on the family budget. We cover visa fees, and I do my best to meet needs like the ones I listed.”

The Global Initiatives Office distributed almost $250,000 in aid solely for the vacation programs last year, and over 400 Exonians participated in off-campus experiences. “It has been one of the great highlights of my career at Exeter to be able to open doors to students to travel,” Page said.

Upper Isadora Rivera-Janer is grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the Equal Justice Initiative trip during her prep fall and to spend the upcoming winter term at the Island School. “I think that [having financial aid to go on trips] is definitely something that students think about,” she said, describing her experience as “eye-opening.” 

There are aspects of the Financial Aid Program that may warrant enhancement, however. This year, the Financial Aid Inclusion Committee is spending time to “reflect on current practices by gathering quantitative and qualitative data in order to make recommendations to the Principal,” Dean Leahy said. The committee is planning to engage financial aid students as well as their parents in the process.

According to committee member and English Instructor Courtney Marshall, a long term aspiration is for PEA’s admissions to become need-blind, like that of peer school Phillips Academy Andover. For now, however, the committee focuses on how a lack of money might disadvantage financial aid students, especially when it comes to paying for clubs and travel.

Another area the committee has considered is covering expenses for families who cannot afford to travel to Exeter. “A member from College Counseling came to a recent meeting and told us of the College Weekend for upper parents,” she said. “Some families are able to come, and some families aren’t because of travel expenses.” As information about college is important for every family to know, Marshall deemed it valuable to either subsidize those who cannot make it or find a way to spread the information.

A source of financial support unbeknownst to some students is OMA. Dean of Multicultural Affairs Sami Atif explained that OMA can draw from the Edmund Perry funds, donated for the purpose of helping “students who cannot afford school supplies, athletic equipment and/or clothing and/or need aid to participate in extracurricular activities and to cover unexpected travel expenses occasioned by family crises and/or to cover the costs of testing and supporting students with learning challenges.” He also noted that students do not need to be on financial aid or affiliated with a multicultural club to receive financial support from OMA.

“Funding is not governed by wants versus needs [but] rather our attempt to achieve equitable outcomes for students,” Atif said. Last year, roughly 10 students made request for support of some kind.

Before she had a conversation with International Student Coordinator Jennifer Smith, however, Doe had no idea that OMA could help her with getting a new computer. “I went to Ms. Smith not expecting anything, but she reached out to OMA staff and came back to me saying she could get me a refurbished computer. I’m so thankful for that.” Doe believed it is important to get the word out about OMA’s ability to help financial aid students with their expenses. “I thought only Financial Aid could help me and didn’t expect at all that OMA could be so generous.”

Examining the barriers for financial-aid students who want to reach out for help is an important part of the Financial Aid Inclusion Committee’s work this year, Leahy noted. “The Academy offers many different areas of support for financial aid students and a key goal will be to ensure that students are aware of existing and future opportunities for support,” he said.

In Marshall’s opinion, there should be a greater outreach from the Financial Aid Office to the community in order to facilitate the transmission of information. “What I think as a great idea is having someone for Financial Aid Office out in the community,” Marshall said. “They could sit in the dining hall or somewhere that is centrally located. Somewhere everyone can stop and ask questions about financial aid.”

Noticing the lack of public awareness, Student Council’s Committee of Community, Equity and Diversity is also working with the Financial Aid Office and OMA to produce a pamphlet on resources for financial aid students, which it hopes to roll out before the end of this calendar year.