Fin. Aid Office Streamlines Aid Request Process

In an effort to streamline the process for requesting additional financial support, the Financial Aid Office has created a new Non-Tuition Support Form. The change comes as an attempt to centralize the requesting process on students’ end; no changes will be made to the actual aid approval process.

All financial aid students were notified of the form when it officially launched on Oct. 31. The form is currently open to all students on ExeterConnect.

Though many students at Exeter receive financial aid, some necessities are not covered. “I’m really grateful that Exeter acknowledges that some of their students are unable to provide for themselves,” lower Liza McMahan said. “Even with all of the financial help that Exeter has provided, boarding school has so many extra things to pay for.” These additional necessities include extracurricular activities, lessons in more than one instrument or basic clothing such as winter coats.

Currently, the Academy budgets financial aid with these needs in mind. “In addition to the aid we provide to help cover the cost of tuition, the school also provides more than one million [dollars] in additional funding to support students with non-tuition related expenses,” the Office of Financial Aid wrote in an email to Student Listeners announcing this form. “This is designed to support students who find themselves with some unexpected financial burdens related to the core Exeter experience.”

However, prior to the form, there was no single, agreed-upon process for students to seek non-tuition related support. “Students would go different directions. Some would ask their advisors, some would go to the church,” Instructor in Religion and Committee on Financial Inclusion member Hannah Hofheinz said. “It would be a lot more equitable for students if we could consolidate that so they know who to talk to in order to get some help with things that feel a little outside of the ordinary.”

Thus, the Committee on Financial Inclusion created this form “Our goal was to create a system that was easier and more convenient for students to make requests,” Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Josh Hutchins said.

Now, students only need to submit one funding request, which will go through all departments. “While most of this funding comes through the Office of Financial Aid, other departments such as the College Counseling Office, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Religious and Spiritual Life and the Office of Equity and Inclusion have some limited funding which has occasionally been used to support financial aid students as well,” the Financial Aid Office’s initial email read.

Though all applications for funding will be reviewed, as before, not all of them may be approved. “[The] policies regarding funding have not changed,” Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Josh Hutchins said. “Requests are considered in the order they are received.”

This form follows previous attempts by various groups to assist in the process for requesting non-tuition report. Last year, Student Council’s Committee for Community, Equity and Diversity published a pamphlet to help students request funds from different departments. “[We] created the pamphlet to inform students on who to contact from each department, instead of hearing from word of mouth,” Committee Co-Chair Renee Bertrand said. The committee plans to release an updated Financial Assistance pamphlet soon, which will include a section that will help students navigate the new form.

To ensure that students are prepared to access the form, the Committee also trained Student Listeners to assist students with non-tuition support. “I was one of the senior Student Listeners who brought [the Committee] and their faculty collaborators to one of our Monday night dinners,” senior Lucy Gilchrist said. “We wanted to facilitate a meeting to teach StuLis about the new form.”

Bertrand felt that the form was a significant improvement from the previous system. Before, if a student could not receive funding from the Office of Multicultural Affairs, it was a long and complicated process to receive funding from other departments. “Communicating over email is confusing, and many times requests were lost,” she said.

Hofheinz noted that the form will have further benefits for the school beyond convenience for students requiring aid. “There will be a record of what types of request students are making. Then, that becomes data that then the school can look at,” they said. “The data, I think, will help shape future opportunities.”

Members of the student body noted that the form would benefit those not on financial aid as well. “[The form] makes you more aware of what opportunities there are for financial help,” lower Jocelyn Waters. 

Some hoped that the form would improve overall inclusivity on campus. However, certain students felt that streamlining the process did not get to the heart of the issues involved. “The policies haven’t changed” lower Daniel Chen, among the first to use the form, said. “Everything is a step in the right direction. I just think that they need to fix a lot of things before they take this specific step.” Chen hopes that the Office of Financial Aid will clarify the types of auxiliary aid that are approved and which departments approved which types of request.

Overall, students felt that this was a good-faith effort to create financial equity. “Exeter is getting rid of barriers. I think that we’ve certainly made the first step,” lower Madeleine Murray said. “The next step is ensuring that you are going to [have a comparable experience] to other students, no matter your financial status.”