Private School May Be Free If You Make Less Than $100,000
Over the past two decades, private schools have developed very generous financial aid programs.
- This has happened for a variety of reasons.
- But the most compelling reason is that private schools want to diversify their student bodies.
- They want to attract academically well-qualified applicants whose families cannot afford the enormous expense of sending their children to private schools.
Generous financial aid programs are one way of helping schools achieve that goal.
Here's how Exeter describes why it offers the very generous financial aid it does:
"Socioeconomic diversity has been a characteristic of Phillips Exeter Academy from our founding. It's built into our ethic—to attract and teach 'youth from every quarter'—and it's crucial to the nature of our community and our classrooms."
St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, expresses its commitment to financial aid as follows:
"We are committed to making St. Paul’s an affordable option for families."
To honor this commitment, we will:
"Consider a household income of $80,000 per year or less as qualifying for full financial aid. Families with an annual income of less than $200,000 will not pay more than 10% of their income toward tuition per year."
Deerfield Academy explains its financial aid as follows:
“Deerfield’s commitment to affordability and access in the form of need-based financial aid is historic, deep, and central to its educational
