Phillips Academy will be one of five schools next fall to participate in the Davis United World College Scholars pilot program for secondary boarding schools. The pilot program will grant up to $20,000 to each chosen 10th, 11th and 12th grader, as well as post-graduates. The program is designed to allow ambitious and talented students, both in the U.S. and around the world, to receive a strong high school education, regardless of their socio-economic status. The other four schools participating in the Davis Scholars pilot program are the Lawrenceville School, the Taft School, the Westminster School and Emma Willard. For each of the five high schools, the Davis family will support a minimum of two domestic students and two international students and a maximum of five domestic students and five international students. The Shelby Davis family’s donations will further Phillip Academy’s pledge to bring “youth from every quarter” to the school. Both the domestic and international programs seek to increase diversity in the student body and bring together “young people of talent and integrity from a variety of cultural, geographic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds,” said Head of School Barbara Chase in an email to the community last Wednesday. Jane Fried, Dean of Admissions, said, “The Davis Scholars Program is an exciting and important component to Andover’s Strategic Plan goal to be a need-blind institution, meaning that a family’s ability to pay the tuition is not a factor in the admission process.” Financial aid students currently make up approximately 41% of the PA student body. “The admission staff is thrilled to be a part of this initiative,” said Fried. “We are recruiting this year in over 70 cities around the country as well as Ireland, Thailand, Korea, China, Singapore, Brazil, South Africa, India, and Eastern Europe.” The Shelby Davis United World College Scholars Program is a foundation that supports financial aid students at more than 85 American universities and colleges. The pilot program will also provide college options for Davis Scholars after they graduate from high school. Fried said, “Not only will [the Davis Scholars program] support our expanding financial aid budget, but it also will support these students’ college costs. Students requiring financial aid are concerned that they will not receive enough aid dollars to attend the school of their choice. The Davis Scholarship will provide a meaningful base of support for these students. It is ground breaking for international students who are considered in a separate and much more competitive pool in the college admission process.” The Davis UWC Scholars Program currently supports more than 1,400 college students at universities such as Princeton University, Brown University and the University of Chicago. As the 2008-2009 school year continues, the Davis Scholars pilot program at the five participating schools will be assessed, and its progress will be relayed to the Davis family through an annual report. The program also could expand to more schools in the future. Christopher R. Latham, Taft School Director of Development, said, “The Davis assessment will be to evaluate how the boys and girls have done in their studies, different ways they’ve positively affected the student body, and ways they’ve surfaced as leaders.” He continued, “If these five schools are successful, which I am sure they will be, there will be a far greater number of schools participating in the future.”
