<p>Concord</a> Monitor - St. Paul's expands free-tuition policy</p>
<p>March 12, 2008 - 12:00 am </p>
<p>St. Paul's School, one of New England's elite private boarding schools, is promising a free education to students whose families earn $80,000 or less a year. </p>
<p>The announcement builds on the Concord school's previous policy, announced in 2006, that provided free tuition to admitted students with family incomes less than $65,000. </p>
<p>The support includes tuition, room and board, and mandatory fees for students attending the boarding school. Aid will come in the form of grants; families will not be responsible for loans. </p>
<p>Taking into account changes in the economy and the jump in the cost of living, the policy adjustment is intended to increase the range of families that can take advantage of a boarding-school education. For St. Paul's, it's also an opportunity to get ahead of the inevitable annual rises in tuition, making the school more affordable for families across the economic spectrum. </p>
<p>The Associated Press</p>
<p>Great News....interesting that they do it up to $80K now, as opposed to Andover and Exeter at $75K.</p>
<p>Won't affect my family personally, as we got the SPS rejection. But, we got a huge amount of FA from Andover.</p>
<p>Just what I do love to see...a good bidding war for great schools to pay more to deserving students and their families!!</p>
<p>Thanks for posting about this!</p>
<p>Deerfield's FA policy says that generally families that make up to $80k will qualify for free tuition. It has said that for a few years. They have not made a big deal of it like the others have.</p>
<p>$80,000 of income and not a penny contributed towards their child's education? The entitlement system expands once again!</p>
<p>Linda: SPS includes room, board & fees in addition to free tuition. Not certain whether Deerfield Academy is the same. Publicity helps get the message out to those most likely to benefit from this policy.</p>
<p>Faxby39: That's two parents making $40K a year. Or one parent making $80K, which is an even worse tax bracket. After taxes, they're looking at what, 65K or so, tops?</p>
<p>To house, feed, clothe, support, educate, etc a likely family of 4-5 people? With medical expenses and transportation thrown in for fun? Don't be an elitist jerk. Not everyone is rich.</p>
<p>Also, faxby, these folks are contributing. For one thing they pay their local school taxes. Also, to raise a young person with the credentials to get into prep school takes some financial sacrifice. Most of these kids have many accomplishments in addition to grades....i.e. star athlete or musician, big-time community service. This all takes money and sacrifice on the parents part.
And, like allidoiswait said, 80K after taxes, leaves not much. Especially when you consider college is not far away.</p>
<p>I don't know icy9ff8. I'm sure it is room and board, may not be books etc.
I think Deerfield is moving quietly now because they are in the process of a big long range strategic plan with the new head of school. They will likely kick off a large campaign in the next year of so that will include an initiative (like Exeter's campaign did) to offer the free tuition to those who qualify. If they were too splashy about it now, it might now play as well with a "campaign." :) </p>
<p>Faxby39: it is not expanding an "entitlement" - I agree with allidoiswait.</p>
<p>Additionally, I know that SPS is wonderful about providing full ride kids with some other 'extras' - transportation costs, laptops, clothing allowance, monthly spending money. It helps these kids feel more comfortable in the BS setting and makes it less obvious who is getting FA and who isn't. </p>
<p>I think it is very admirable.</p>
<p>It is very admirable, I didn't mean to take away from that at all.</p>
<p>Generally, when you give something valuable away for absolutely nothing, there is less value (appreciation). A modest copayment is almost always preferable. I am on the board of an independent school and have helped with many annual funds/capital campaigns of other independent schools where my children have attended. The participation in these efforts is consistently zero by those on full rides. Finally, don't even get me started on the cost of "necessities" of today's typical American family of 4-5 people.</p>
<p>You have no clue faxby39.
I'm in the field of development and had just written a fairly lengthy reply...however your not worth it.</p>
<p>I asked you not to be an elitist jerk, but there you go again. You honestly want families barely scraping by to pay a "modest" amount, so that they can properly appreciate the overwhelming generosity of your oh-so-kind beneficence? </p>
<p>Gee, why didn't I think of that? Oh, because I don't care whether the students/parents are "properly" thankful. I want kids who deserve an incredible education, who will round out the BS properly, who will generate conversation and discussion to be able to attend. Why do you demand gratitude?</p>
<p>You seem to have bought into the argument that no one deserves a free ride, because they won't see the value in it. I'm sorry that you feel that nothing in life that is free has value. Tell me, how much did you pay for your children? No? Your wife/husband? Not them, either? Hmm.</p>
<p>faxby 39: If you are on a board of an independent school, it probably means that you are not in a low tax bracket and probably would find it hard to empathize with a lack of participation by a family on full ride. Both parents are probably working or they have young children and cannot afford and/or feel comfortable with the rest of the parent body. Not to mention that these families may also be living far from the school and not be able to afford the gas/or bus/train fare. And how would they contribute to an annual fund anyway?</p>
<p>faxby, you just can't make a blanket statement like that and assume it is true for everyone. I know plenty of families (mine included) who could no way pay a cent more. Our monthly expenses already exceed our income....and my husband works 20 hours of overtime every week. We drive old cars (each has over 120,000 miles), live in a tiny home, do not take vacations, don't eat out, don't have any of the "niceties" which so many people take for granted these days. We already have two in college and will be paying our portion of the bs loan for the older one for a very long time. He himself will be paying his college debt and has worked 30 hours per week while in college. Thank goodness some of the bs are realizing this and helping truly deserving children reach their full potential.<br>
Unless you are the one bringing home $3000-4000/month and trying to make that cover your mortgage, utilities, heating costs ($1500 for us this winter), medical bills, groceries, GAS (we spend $400 month on this alone), past and current hs and college debt, and credit card debt (for those times when you just didn't have the cash to replace the broken water heater, failed transmission, pay your auto registration, etc.)....unless you are the one experiencing this, how can you make that sort of statement?
Also, I do not know which school you are speaking of, but we fully participate in all of our school's volunteer initiatives. We have always been involved in our children's lives like this. And, my children, likewise have learned from us to give back as well.</p>
<p>I know many, many families on FA that contribute to the annual fund!</p>
<p>Ok, here's the shortened version of what I said. If the schools you worked with couldn't come up with a compelling case for those receiving FA to make even a very modest contribution to the annual fund, then they need to get different development professionals. AND, different volunteers. As a development professional, I could in an hour get a large majority of FA families to make a contribution to the school - I promise you that (even keylyme and my family could give what I would ask for! :) ). It's a matter of being the right professional with the right skills asking for the right amount for the right thing at the right time.... I can also promise you that I would NEVER give one cent to a school that had members of the board like you on it. No matter how much money they gave my child. My child worked very hard and so do we.<br>
In addition, those are the students and families who are the best prospects to give back years later.<br>
It has nothing to do with the "truth hurting." It has to do with you not having a freaking clue.</p>
<p>Allow me to submit another side of the coin. While the need blind and substantially generous FA policies introduced at Exeter, Andover and SPS this year are admirable, someone has to pay for it. Of course the endowments of these schools pay the expenses associated with these policies, but endowments must be constantly funded. Beyond large gifts from very high net worth individuals and trusts and some alumni giving, much of the funding comes from parents who are solicited by development professionals employed by the schools. I have been a major parent donor at one of the above mentioned schools who contributed well into the six figures toward the parent fund during my child's 4 years at the school. I was happy to do it, as I believed in the principals of the school. I also (like many parents) had another child that wanted to attend the school who was not yet of high school age and was repeatedly told that our generous support of the school (not just in financial support, we hosted many school functions at our home and were on the parent's board for several years), would be a lasting legacy for our family. Our child was rejected for admission this year by that very same school after having submitted an application package which included even better grades, SSAT scores and ECs than my previous child had. The reason referenced was the highly competitive nature of the applicant pool. My first child graduated in the last few years, so the competitive framework of this year's applicant pool wasn't substantially different. What was different however, is that the sheer number of applicants, given the introduction of the school's need blind policy this year, substantially changed the admissions department consideration of a family's history of school support and legacy considerations in general. Therefore, I would submit that the development professional's job has become much more challenging in the area of convincing parents who are interested in establishing a family legacy for their upcoming children or grandchildren's benefit, when the reality seems to be that these contributions are now considered meaningless, at least by this school. Don't get me wrong, I believe in providing all the educational opportunities in the world for deserving kids, but I am very much concerned about how parent giving will be affected when it gets out that due to the overwelming increase in the competitiveness of the applicant pool, one of the most substantial incentives for parent giving has been removed from the equation. The good news for our family personally, is that our child was accepted at several "top tier" (I hate that term, but use it only to provide clarity) schools, but will not be attending the school that our family spent so many years supporting and being involved in. It is a shame really, but our child will have his/her own BS experience and the school will have support of a new family</p>