I am overseas and not in need of a WSJ subscription. But this is important info for my US citizen son. Any chance someone can post a gift article or cut and paste the article below? Thank you.

Deerfield had about a 13% acceptance rate for this year. They are not hurting for students. They are looking for diversity and their very successful alumnae, current parents and large endowment pay to get it.

“The 2024-25 enrollment of 649 students includes 71 day students and 578 boarding
students from 34 states and the District of Columbia, and 44 foreign countries
represented; 42% are students of color and 13% are international; 39% of current students receive financial aid. There are 209 seniors in the class of 2025.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low enrollment?

You really think Deerfield can't find enough applicants? You don't know much about it then. And upper classes no longer sending kids there? Where do you think the schools are getting the money to offer need based scholarships to under $150k? This is to increase the scope of kids who are able to apply. The boarding school experience is just not comparable to day schools, even the best ones in DC.

They have a $900 MM endowment and are raising another $90MM specifically to fund this effort.

Full pay kids help keep the lights on, but it is of course massive gifts from alums that fund initiatives like this.

I always wonder how relatively local people think of Boarding schools. For example, if you live in Amherst and can see your kid at Deerfield all the time (and attend all their sports games), do you think of it more like your prestigious Day school where your kid happens to live?

I guess the same as DMV folks that send their kids to Episcopal.

I’m in a New England town with an ISL boarding school. The tuition rate is $74k for boarders and $64k for day students. The school is absolutely not worth $64k over our fabulous (town based) public school system and there is a huge range of other less expensive day school privates in commuting distance and in Boston.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low enrollment?

You really think Deerfield can't find enough applicants? You don't know much about it then. And upper classes no longer sending kids there? Where do you think the schools are getting the money to offer need based scholarships to under $150k? This is to increase the scope of kids who are able to apply. The boarding school experience is just not comparable to day schools, even the best ones in DC.

They have a $900 MM endowment and are raising another $90MM specifically to fund this effort.

Full pay kids help keep the lights on, but it is of course massive gifts from alums that fund initiatives like this.

I always wonder how relatively local people think of Boarding schools. For example, if you live in Amherst and can see your kid at Deerfield all the time (and attend all their sports games), do you think of it more like your prestigious Day school where your kid happens to live?

I guess the same as DMV folks that send their kids to Episcopal.

Yes on Episcopal -- can watch sports, kids often come home on weekends.
Also: Alum give money to keep them accepting their children -- virtuous cycle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low enrollment?

You really think Deerfield can't find enough applicants? You don't know much about it then. And upper classes no longer sending kids there? Where do you think the schools are getting the money to offer need based scholarships to under $150k? This is to increase the scope of kids who are able to apply. The boarding school experience is just not comparable to day schools, even the best ones in DC.

They have a $900 MM endowment and are raising another $90MM specifically to fund this effort.

Full pay kids help keep the lights on, but it is of course massive gifts from alums that fund initiatives like this.

I always wonder how relatively local people think of Boarding schools. For example, if you live in Amherst and can see your kid at Deerfield all the time (and attend all their sports games), do you think of it more like your prestigious Day school where your kid happens to live?

I guess the same as DMV folks that send their kids to Episcopal.

Sounds like they are taking steps to increase diversity. I don't think they are lacking for full pay applicants. To me, this is the opposite, they are financially sound enough to fund a more economically diverse set of students.

Anonymous wrote:Low enrollment?

You really think Deerfield can't find enough applicants? You don't know much about it then. And upper classes no longer sending kids there? Where do you think the schools are getting the money to offer need based scholarships to under $150k? This is to increase the scope of kids who are able to apply. The boarding school experience is just not comparable to day schools, even the best ones in DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like you’ve copied part of an article. Source? I’m curious to read the whole thing.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/deerfield-academy-boarding-school-free-tuition-102a15ec?mod=hp_lead_pos9

Thanks!

Smart for them to do if they can afford it - will raise their profile and competitiveness

https://deerfield.edu/admission/financial-aid

Anonymous wrote:This sounds like you’ve copied part of an article. Source? I’m curious to read the whole thing.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/deerfield-academy-boarding-school-free-tuition-102a15ec?mod=hp_lead_pos9

This sounds like you’ve copied part of an article. Source? I’m curious to read the whole thing.

Anonymous wrote:They want economic diversity so they are bringing in some poor kids. They'll end up with the same barbell distributions that private universities have, but now they'll have some poor kids and middle class kids to point to when people say they're elitist

It's interesting that a school like Deerfield will charge no more than 10% of income.

Feel like there are lots of folks on DCUM lamenting no financial aid that maybe make $300k. I know it is a stretch to send your kids to boarding school, but maybe the calculation is different to spend $30k at Deerfield vs. $55k at Sidwell.

Low enrollment?

They want economic diversity so they are bringing in some poor kids. They'll end up with the same barbell distributions that private universities have, but now they'll have some poor kids and middle class kids to point to when people say they're elitist

I wonder if Boarding school just isn't as popular with wealthy families these days, compared to say 30+ years ago.

Elite private schools want to appeal to more students, so some are making school free for families whose incomes reach into the low six figures.

The latest to do so is Deerfield Academy, a Massachusetts boarding school that is set to start giving a free ride to any admitted U.S. student whose family earns less than $150,000 a year, almost double the median U.S. household income. For domestic families earning more than that, tuition will no longer go beyond 10% of their income, Deerfield is announcing on Thursday.

“There are a lot of families out there who aren’t even considering a school like Deerfield because they believe it’s just simply out of reach for them,” said John Austin, the head of school. “We want to change that perception.” Right now, 60% of Deerfield’s families pay full price, the school said.