October 10, 2018
Why financial aid matters
See what the dean of admission and a scholarship recipient are saying about the power of a need-blind schoolJim Ventre ’79, dean of admission and financial aid, shares his perspective on need-blind admission, Andover’s merit-based approach to access, and why it’s so important to sustain. His thoughts are captured in an article published by The Times of India.
‘The difference maker’
In 2008, Andover became the only boarding school in the nation to offer need-blind admission—reaffirming our founding constitution’s call to welcome the most promising youth from every quarter.
Today, when nearly half of our students rely on financial aid, support for this priority is more essential than ever.
Knowledge & Goodness campaign donors are making Andover dreams come true for learners like Ashley ’20 of Los Angeles. Here, she puts her joy into words:
Describe the moment you first learned of your scholarship.
I’ll never forget it. I was in math class, and my sister texted me a picture of my acceptance letter, which had just arrived in the mail. I was super happy, but I was worried all the way home. I said to her, ‘I can’t believe it. I was just accepted to the best school in the country, but how are we going to pay for it?’ My sister started laughing and, I’ll never forgive her for this, she pulls out another folder with my financial aid package. We looked at each other and had this mental exchange and she smiled. I knew, even before opening it, that Andover had given me the money I needed.
What does financial aid mean to you and your family?
Financial aid was the difference maker—between my attending Andover or not. My mom is a single parent. So if I wanted to attend a boarding school and get the education I wanted, we knew I would have to ask for financial aid. And the thing is, Andover didn’t make me ask. They just gave it to me, and they’ve made my experience unbelievable. It’s that level of understanding, that role of wanting to help me out and to help my family out. That was huge for me. That’s made me feel really special.
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