Academy to Offer Prorated Tuition Refund

By Jeannie Eom, Minseo Kim and Athena Wang

As a school that prides itself on educating youth from every quarter, Exeter’s community must grapple with the coronavirus pandemic in different ways. Exonians experience unique financial circumstances, and some families are facing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Financial Aid department is currently supporting several families by providing Visa gift cards as a form of financial support.

Earlier this month, parents were notified via email of a partial housing tuition refund option for boarding families. Based on the amount of tuition a family pays, the prorated amount is a third of the difference between the boarding and day tuition. Families were given the option to apply the refund to tuition for the next academic year.

For a family paying full tuition, the refund would amount to 4,201 dollars. 

The Academy also allowed parents to decline their refunds or donate them back to the school. The Academy noted that it is “continuing to pay all [its] employees for their regularly scheduled hours through the spring term, even if they are not able to work, to support them through the public health crisis and associated financial crisis.” 

Donations of money will be contributed to the Exeter Fund, Chief Financial Officer Marijka Beauchesne said. 

The Exeter Fund is “an annual fund that raises dollars for unrestricted or general expenses of the Academy, including expenses like a portion of employee payroll benefits, maintenance, dorm renovations, et cetera. The Exeter Fund assists the Academy in covering any expenses which are not covered by tuition, endowment or other restricted funds,” she said. As such, declining or donating the refund or donating will assist the Academy in supporting its employees. All options regarding the prorated tuition refund can be exercised through a link sent to parents.

Many parents agreed that the Academy’s refund option is a pragmatic way to assist Academy families under financial pressures at this time. “Not all parents can telework or have alternative financial options to sustain them through this outbreak,” Kristi Odums P’23 said. 

Students, too, voiced their support for this policy, noting that students would not benefit from many of the Academy’s resources this term. “We think this partial refund is appropriate because we aren’t in the school and using its facilities, like the library, dining hall, dorms,” prep Grace Nivera said. “Everyone is affected in this unexpected situation, and they shouldn’t have to pay such an exorbitant price for sitting at home and attending class without any access to any of the other opportunities the Exeter experience promised when we chose to go to this school.”

“Personally, this tuition refund has really helped my family. I think it will help others, too,” Nivera said.

Parents of the Academy have noted their gratitude for the administration’s efforts to promote equity for all families. Sandy Zhang P’22 planned to donate the tuition refund to the Exeter Fund. “We think the school is very thoughtful to have this refund, and we are grateful that the school has done a wonderful job during the break to support the parents and students. We also want to help the school in this difficult situation so they can continue to support students from less fortunate families,” she said. “As far as I know, many Chinese parents are doing the same thing: they are going to donate the money instead of taking the refund.” 

Other families cited the same reasons for donation to the Academy. “We know that, in some ways, the school is still running, and we want to support Exeter.” prep Priya Nwakanma added. 

In contrast, some students criticized the inequity of the prorated tuition refund option, given that students on aid receive less. While the tuition refund is a helpful support system, the tuition families pay per year is depleted by the end of fall term, the remaining two being fully funded by donations. “It’s unfair to have tuition refunds since tuition ‘runs out’ early in the year,” prep John Smith* said. Smith receives full financial aid from the Academy and received $300 in a gift card from the Academy.

Financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic may impose a difficult burden for many Exeter families, and the Academy’s efforts to take part in mitigating the situation have largely been positively received by the community. As spring term progresses and the pandemic situation evolves, families can expect to see more measures to support students—financially or otherwise.

*Denotes name change to preserve anonymity.