From the Board: School Announces Tuition Freeze

At its winter meeting in January, the St. Paul’s School Board of Trustees approved a tuition freeze for the upcoming 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. As part of the Board’s discussion on the School’s mission and purpose, the trustees renewed their commitment to providing a learning community that brings young people from all backgrounds and nationalities to the School to ensure the best possible forum in which students can learn together and from each other. For the 2019-20 school year, SPS offered $12.1 million in financial aid to approximately 40 percent of the student body. Board President Archibald Cox, Jr. ’58 announced the news in a recent letter to the SPS community.

One of the great strengths of the St. Paul’s School experience is the diversity of its student body. Young people from all walks of life, from around the country and around the world, come to St. Paul’s to contribute their unique backgrounds and experiences to the powerful residential community that is the heart of the St. Paul’s experience. At our just-concluded winter meeting, as the Board of Trustees discussed the School’s mission and purpose, we renewed our commitment to educating the whole young person in a community that fully engages students and shapes powerful, positive habits of collaboration, contribution, and leadership.

This kind of education is expensive, and over the past number of years, our Board has invested in a diverse student body by purposefully expanding financial aid resources. However, we have also been concerned about the sustainability of steady tuition increases. We want and need to take decisive action on the issues of affordability and access for all families.

Yesterday, the Board voted to move forward on these issues with a multi-pronged approach. First, we will accelerate the work, begun last year, to fundraise for financial aid. Access and equity are priorities throughout our extended community, and with the energy and passion with which our graduates, friends, and families support access and equity, we know we can continue to make progress towards an applicant’s financial status with no bearing on admission outcomes. Next, we voted to freeze our tuition at the 2019-20 rate for the next two years. While doing so requires a disciplined approach to the School’s spending and expenses, it also is a confident and bold first step towards making sure that a St. Paul’s education remains a worthy investment for families of all backgrounds. And third, we charged the School’s administration with continued analysis on how to best use the School’s financial resources to support outstanding student experience and bolster the School’s financial sustainability. These are first steps, as our Board continues to focus on access and affordability as top priorities in the coming years.

St. Paul’s School prioritizes the safety, wellbeing, and enlightenment of our students. We want them to have the kind of transformational experience that is life-changing. As we work on strengthening student experience – SPS 360 – we want to acknowledge and invest in the terrific ways students grow together, mature together, and learn together, shaping habits of heart and spirit that make them open to new people and new experiences throughout their lives. This is the power of the “fully residential community” that has been, is, and will be at the core of a St. Paul’s education. We see our decision on the tuition freeze as a principled investment in the core strength of our student body and residential school community.

With thanks and best regards,

Archibald Cox, Jr. ’58
President of the Board of Trustees
acoxjr@gmail.com