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Exeter, NH  (February 22, 2006) -  Following the lead of Harvard, Princeton and other colleges and universities in making their educations more affordable, Phillips Exeter Academy announced today that it would eliminate student loans as part of its financial aid program, replacing them with outright grants.

At the same time, the school announced a significant increase in the percentage of students who will receive scholarship aid. The bold initiative means that, starting next year, Exeter will be able to offer financial assistance to almost 40 percent of its students.

The independent secondary school’s goal is to ensure that its student body is as economically and socially diverse as the nation itself, and that no students are denied an Exeter education because their families can’t afford it. The Academy aims to admit the best students regardless of financial need. Founder John Phillips envisioned a school “with youth from every quarter.” This commitment allows the 225-year-old school to move dramatically closer to that objective.

Phillips Exeter Principal Tyler C. Tingley explains the school’s decision, "We have been eager to be in a financial position where we could replace the loan part of our financial aid with grants in order to maintain the diversity of our student body. Additionally, we felt it was important that high school students not leave Exeter burdened with loans they or their families would need to repay.”

The school is in the middle of a $305-million capital campaign. Its donors have rallied enthusiastically to one of its principal goals: enhanced financial aid. Many donors are alumni/ae of the school and former scholarship recipients themselves.

Charles T. Harris, a member of Exeter’s class of 1969, was a scholarship student. He is currently a trustee of the Academy and the chair of the school’s fundraising campaign. He says, "Exeter and its alumni/ae have a long history of sensitivity to the financial needs of its students. In fact, diversity in the student body was written into the school's founding documents in 1781. From recruiting newspaper boys beginning in 1946 to initiating the first financial aid program aimed at middle income families, Exeter has worked to make sure that it can attract the finest students, regardless of their ability to pay.”

Thirty-five percent of Exeter students received financial aid in the 2005-2006 academic year, with an average grant of $24,722.  The school projects that next year (2006-2007) aid will be available for 39 percent of the student body, should it be needed. Exeter’s goal is to continue to increase aid even more in the years to come.

These improvements in the financial aid program at Exeter are part of an ongoing effort to attract the most talented students in the nation, regardless of their financial situation, by offering one of the best financial aid programs available at the secondary school level.

Financial aid packages at Exeter can go well beyond help with tuition, room and board, and can include such things as help with the purchase of a personal computer, support for home computer connections for day students, help with any other unusual or emergency expenses and travel to and from school.

Phillips Exeter Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory school that was founded in 1781 and originated the system of instruction known as Harkness teaching in 1931. In the spirit of its charter to foster both goodness and knowledge, students come from a wide variety of geographic, economic, racial and religious backgrounds. The diverse student body comes from approximately 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 25 foreign countries.

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