Something to keep in mind - endowment per student does not directly correlate with financial aid per student. For example, Andover and Exeter have both strong endowments and 21% of their boarders on full aid. However, Deerfield and Hotchkiss are also in the top 10 of endowments but have less than 10% of their boarders on full aid**.
**Source: Hotchkiss Magazine, Winter 2019, p. 6
While endowment per student probably does correlate with financial aid per student at the top 3 boarding schools (St. Paulâs School, Andover & Exeter), it may not at some other schools. But this will be revealed in a very clear fashion on a case by case basis upon acceptance to any boarding school .
Also, some schools probably offer more generous financial aid in order to attract desired students away from the most elite boarding schoolsâjust as colleges & law schools do.
Posts #21 & #22 on page 2 in this thread offer reported average financial aid by school as well as percent of students receiving financial aid at those schools. According to those figures both Deerfield & Hotchkiss are very generous with financial aid to about one-third (33%) of their students although the average aid of $48,000 is not full tuition, fees, room & board.
@Publisher we are currently deciding between Peddie and Hill. When you mention $ per student, how should we think of that? @GMTplus7 mentioned more bang for the buck if FP. I like the comment about checking out the teacher housing and if the school has invested to attract good teachers. I know Hill has done this in recent years. Does anyone know about what Peddie has done in regard to upgrades in past few years? We of course will ask during revisit but curious if anyone has any insight. Thanks
Both Peddie & Hill are financially sound schools. When visiting you may notice a difference in facilities. Peddie tends to offer more financial aid per student.
@PMTcruiser : Additionally, if your son or daughter has any specific areas of interest, you may want to see facilities or inquire about programs & funding for those particular areas of interest.
Amount of FA offered to your particular family is more important than âaverage FA awardâ or âendowment per student.â We expected more of a correlation between those three numbers than we actually saw in our kidâs case. YMMV.
Another tip: check out Glassdoor reviews, if there are any. You want a school that treats its faculty and workers well. We crossed one school off of our list because of faculty complaints about the administration and housing.
Update - According to the latest Deerfield Magazine, Deerfieldâs Endowment as of June 30, 2018 is $631.6 million.
@happarent6 : Does the article state last yearâs endowment figure ? Also, what caused such a dramatic riseâinvestment results or a large donation or donations ?
@Publisher : The article mentions that last year, the total endowment (investments and perpetual funds) stood at $ 574.1 million. The return on investments for the period was a strong 11.8%. You also have to factor in the drawdown and additional donations. Hope this helps.
@pmtcruiser We visited 11 schools, interviewed at nine and applied to six. Our DC will be attending Peddie. It is such a close community. The teachers really seem to care deeply for the children, as do the coaches. If you didnât attend this past weekâs revisit day, I believe there is one this week as well (April 2, I believe.) As for as investment goes, they recently renovated the gym (which looks fabulous) and this summer will be renovating the swimming pool. We spoke with some folks from Hill at a Ten Schools Event last fall but ultimately passed on visiting or applying. If all metrics are equal, we liked Peddie much FWIW.