Why 37% is Not a Bragging Point

By Eleanor O’Connor ’29

At Milton, we take pride in having the freedom to be ourselves. Where many communities lack the resources or unity to provide open and safe spaces for discussions about gender, race, sexuality, and politics, Milton students benefit from discourse on these topics everyday. However, what Milton fails to address is the wealth, privilege, and resources it takes to attend this school. Wealth is an uncomfortable topic for many, but as an incredibly privileged community, it is our responsibility to have conversations about wealth here at Milton. With a substantial—though arguably insufficient—portion of our student body receiving financial aid, it is alarming that we so commonly push the topic aside. To better facilitate these uncomfortable conversations, diverse perspectives are needed. Although 37% of students’ receiving financial aid makes for an impressive figure, the other 63% of students who don’t receive financial aid demonstrate little interest and are given few opportunities to learn about the reality of receiving aid. Milton needs to further prioritize increasing the amount of students on financial aid during the admissions process. Socioeconomic diversity within this community would not only decrease the negative social stigmas around financial aid but also build stronger connections within the community.

It is no secret that attending Milton Academy is expensive. In fact, the majority of Americans would not be able to afford sending even one child here. According to the Social Security Administration, the average American makes around $69,846 per year. Now, compare this figure to the cost of attending Milton Academy, where the tuition for a day student is a whopping $67,900 while the boarding tuition of $77,800 slowly creeps towards $80,000. As head of school Dr. Alixe H. Callen simply stated in a weekly faculty memo, “Tuition levels are now unaffordable for all but the very wealthiest.”

For many families, sending a child to a school like Milton Academy is simply unattainable. That’s why the importance of students on financial aid cannot be understated. They represent different financial backgrounds in the world and offer an insulated community much-needed diversity in perspective.

But how can the school further their resources for those who need them? Currently, the Milton Fund and Milton’s endowment are the main sources of financial aid, while year-to-year fundraising also contributes. Milton’s endowment is around $412 million, and, for this academic school year, the financial aid budget is around $15.8 million. When asked how Milton would approach goals of expanding financial aid in the future, Financial Aid Director Chris Kane said, “Ultimately . . . more fundraising towards endowment and having a higher percentage of our overall financial budget supported by endowment would be one big step forward.” Such measures would secure financial aid at Milton for students who need it down the road, and are necessary to keep Milton affordable for those that bring one of its most valuable perspectives. Meanwhile, there is much more work to be done when it comes to having real discussions about class at Milton. Progress is strong right now: the newly created Financial Aid at Milton (FAM) serves as an affinity space where students can speak from the “I” perspective about the struggles of being on financial aid at an elite school. Still, more could be done to normalize the discussion of class and financial aid beyond affinity spaces and in the broader community.

It is only a matter of time until these healthy, sometimes uncomfortable conversations bleed into the lives of all Milton students, but we have to put the work in to achieve that goal. The Milton Academy community is far from regular and it’s certainly not perfect, but the community is constantly striving towards improvement and becoming more accessible to all. That’s what makes this community stand out — unwavering determination and the striving to become better each and every day.