Phillips Exeter Academy

{{See also|List of Phillips Exeter Academy principals}}

Phillips Exeter Academy was established in 1781 by John and Elizabeth Phillips, prominent citizens of Exeter, New Hampshire. It is the nation's sixth-oldest boarding school.{{Cite news |last=Fabrikant |first=Geraldine |date=2008-01-26 |title=At Elite Prep Schools, College-Size Endowments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/business/26prep.html |access-date=2024-03-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

John Phillips had earned degrees from Harvard College and came to Exeter as a young man in 1741, initially as a teacher. He made his fortune as a merchant and banker, and gained influence over time as an advisor to the colonial governor, circuit court judge, elected representative, and senior militia officer in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. In 1778, he supported his nephew, Samuel Phillips Jr., financially when the latter founded Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts,{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Myron R. |title=The Story of Phillips Exeter |publisher=Phillips Exeter Academy |year=1957 |location=Exeter, NH |pages=13–16}} about 40 miles away. As result of this original family relationship, the two schools share a friendly and historic rivalry.{{Cite journal | last=Echols | first=Edward | title=The Phillips Exeter Academy, A Pictorial History | publisher=Exeter Press | year=1970| page=49 }} John Phillips stipulated in Exeter's founding charter that it would "ever be equally open to youth of requisite qualifications from every quarter."{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywHhswEACAAJ |title=The Phillips Exeter Academy; A History by Laurence M. Crosbie |date=1923 |publisher=The Academy |language=en |access-date=April 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418135628/https://books.google.com/books?id=ywHhswEACAAJ |archive-date=April 18, 2021 |url-status=live}}

The new academy benefited from donors besides John Phillips. Phillips had previously been married to Sarah Gilman, the wealthy widow of Phillips' cousin, Nathaniel Gilman,{{cite web| url=http://www.exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/summer_05/BehindEverySuccessfulMan.pdf| title=Behind Every Successful Man| last=Brown| first=Connie| publisher=The Exeter Bulletin| date=Summer 2005| access-date=August 27, 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405142954/http://www.exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/summer_05/BehindEverySuccessfulMan.pdf| archive-date=April 5, 2012| df=mdy-all}} whose large fortune, bequeathed to Phillips, enabled him to endow the academy.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/phillipsexeterac00bell|title=Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Charles Henry Bell, William B. Morrill, Exeter, N.H., 1883|publisher=W. B. Morrill, printer|year=1883|last1=Bell |first1=Charles Henry }} The Gilman family also donated to the academy much of the land on which it stands, including the initial 1793 grant by New Hampshire Governor John Taylor Gilman of the Yard, the oldest part of campus; the academy's first class in 1783 included seven Gilmans.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVNm_97RrcwC&pg=PA163|title=New Hampshire: A Guide to the Granite State, Federal Writers Project, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1938|isbn=9781603540285|year=1938|publisher=Federal Writers' Project|access-date=September 24, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418104100/https://books.google.com/books?id=NVNm_97RrcwC&pg=PA163|url-status=live}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UZAAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA5|title=General Catalogue of Officers and Students, 1783–1903, The Phillips Exeter Academy, News-Letter Press, Exeter, 1903|year=1903|access-date=September 24, 2016|archive-date=December 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222065106/https://books.google.com/books?id=6UZAAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA5|url-status=live|last1=Academy |first1=Phillips Exeter }} In 1814, Nicholas Gilman, signer of the U.S. Constitution, left $1,000 to Exeter to teach sacred music.{{cite web |last=The trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy |title=Phillips Exeter Academy {{!}} Academy Chronology |url=https://www.exeter.edu/about-us/academy-chronology |access-date=July 16, 2019 |archive-date=April 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418135417/https://www.exeter.edu/about-us/academy-chronology |url-status=live }}File:Original Phillips Exeter Academy Building.jpgThe academy's first schoolhouse, the First Academy Building, was built on a site on Tan Lane in 1783,{{Cite book|last1=Tolles|first1=Bryant Franklin|title=New Hampshire Architecture: An Illustrated Guide|last2=Tolles|first2=Carolyn K.|publisher=University Press of New England|year=1979|isbn=978-0-87451-167-3|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=h6QQsklqqKwC&pg=PA49 49]|language=en}} and today stands not far from its original location. The building was dedicated on February 20, 1783, the same day that the school's first Preceptor, William Woodbridge, was chosen by John Phillips.

Exeter's Deed of Gift, written by John Phillips at the founding of the school, states that Exeter's mission is to instill in its students both goodness and knowledge:

{{blockquote|"Above all, it is expected that the attention of instructors to the disposition of the minds and morals of the youth under their charge will exceed every other care; well considering that though goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous, and that both united form the noblest character, and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to mankind."}}

In the early 1800s, a deep religious divide opened up between Unitarian Harvard and Calvinist Yale.{{Cite book |last=Allis Jr. |first=Frederick S. |title=Youth from Every Quarter: A Bicentennial History of Phillips Academy, Andover |publisher=University Press of New England |year=1979 |location=Hanover, NH |pages=120–28}} As a result, Unitarian-friendly Exeter developed a closer relationship with Harvard and Calvinist-friendly Andover with Yale.{{Cite book |last=McLachlan |first=James |title=American Boarding Schools: A Historical Study |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1970 |location=New York |pages=228}}Allis, p. 148 (outlining that due to its closer ties to Harvard, Exeter was "less positively religious in its influence," and "concentrate[d] ... upon its special work of preparing boys for admission to college"). Although originally, most Exeter graduates did not go on to further formal education (as with most 18th and 19th Century secondary schools), the ones that did placed at Harvard in substantial numbers.McLachlan, p. 223. From 1846 to 1870, Exeter supplanted Boston Latin School as Harvard's largest feeder school, supplying 16% of all Harvard students during that period.{{Cite journal |last=Story |first=Ronald |date=1975 |title=Harvard Students, the Boston Elite, and the New England Preparatory System, 1800-1876 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/367846 |journal=History of Education Quarterly |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=291–92 |doi=10.2307/367846 |jstor=367846 |issn=0018-2680|url-access=subscription }} In the latter half of the 19th century, graduates of Exeter and the now-defunct Adams Academy of Quincy, Massachusetts were "dominant socially" on Harvard Yard.{{Cite web |title=Harvard 1900 – Student Life – The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation |url=https://fdrfoundation.org/the-fdr-suite/harvard-1900-student-life/ |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=fdrfoundation.org}}

Exeter's first recorded minority student was Moses Uriah Hall, a young Black man, who entered the Academy in 1858, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and was known for many years as a skilled stonemason and businessman in nearby Epping, New Hampshire.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-05-03 |title=Who was Moses Uriah Hall? |url=https://exeter.edu/who-was-moses-uriah-hall/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en-US}} Exeter's official records indicate that six years later, five White students from a border state, Kentucky, threatened to leave the Academy because another young Black man had enrolled as a member of their class. Exeter's Principal at the time, Gideon Lane Soule, is said to have told them "You may do as you please — your classmate will stay."{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

After a brief interlude in the 1880s when Exeter's focus partially shifted from college preparation to general education and only 18% of Exeter students went on to college,McLachlan, pp. 223, 229 (explaining that the percentage of Exeter students attending college fell from 40% (1873–83) to 18% (1884–89), and the percentage of Exeter students matriculating at Harvard declined from 20% to 10% during this timeframe). Charles Everett Fish (p. 1890–95) restored academic standards by adopting a policy of expelling students who could not attain a C average.McLachlan, p. 233. A student in the Class of 1892 recalled that "[t]here was no real discipline ... the only measure of a boy's quality was his scholarship. If that was satisfactory, little else mattered."Williams, p. 71. The percentages of students going on to college recovered rapidly to 1870s levels, although the student body shrank significantly, dropping from 355 in 1890 to 123 in 1895.McLachlan, pp. 222-23.File:Philips Exeter Academy advertisement 1909.pngFish's successor Harlan Page Amen (p. 1895–1913) solidified Exeter's mission as a college-preparatory school. Amen cleaned up Exeter's social image, as the student body had acquired a reputation for unruly behavior.McLachlan, p. 224.Williams, pp. 66-68. He doubled tuition from $75 to $150 between 1895 and 1899,McLachlan, pp. 237, 240. and claimed in 1903 that he had expelled 400 boys in eight years.McLachlan, p. 238. He also improved the academy's residential facilities; by 1903 two-thirds of Exeter students were living on campus.McLachlan, pp. 237-38. Despite the expulsions, Exeter's new-look mission resonated with parents, and enrollment jumped to 390 in 1903 and 572 in 1913.McLachlan, p. 240. From 1890 to 1894, 67% of Exeter's college-bound students went on to Harvard, Yale or Princeton.McLachlan, p. 223. 60-odd years later, in 1953, the corresponding number was 67% for the entire academy.{{Cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Michael |date=1969 |title=Changing Patterns of Upper-Class Prep School College Placements |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1388210 |journal=The Pacific Sociological Review |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=24–25 |doi=10.2307/1388210 |jstor=1388210 |issn=0030-8919|url-access=subscription }}

File:Exeter Baseball.JPG.]]From 1879 to 1881, Exeter (and several other schools) participated in the Chinese Educational Mission, hosting students from Qing China who were sent to the United States to learn about Western technology. However, all students were recalled after just 2 years due to mounting tensions between the United States and China, as well as growing concern within the Chinese government that the students were becoming Americanized.{{Cite book|last=Rimkunas|first=Barbara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMeACQAAQBAJ&pg=PT81|title=Hidden History of Exeter|date=2014|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-62585-264-9|page=81|access-date=September 6, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418135432/https://books.google.com/books?id=YMeACQAAQBAJ&pg=PT81|url-status=live}}

Lewis Perry was appointed principal in 1914 and ran the academy until 1946. Although his early years were marked by grave financial difficulties, including a $200,000 bill to rebuild the Academy Building (destroyed by fire five months into Perry's administration) and the disruption of World War I,Williams, pp. 100, 105-06. he had a "talent for getting wealthy men to part with their money."{{Cite news |last=Whitman |first=Alden |date=1970-01-28 |title=An Informal Innovator |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/28/archives/an-informal-innovator-by-alden-whitman.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |work=The New York Times}} A professional fundraiser, he did not teach classes; instead, he "spen[t] much time away from school spreading Exeter's fame and obtaining endowments."{{Cite magazine |date=1931-06-15 |title=Education: Exeter's 150th |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,846896-3,00.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}} Exeter's endowment increased ninefold during his tenure.{{Cite news |last=Price |first=Lucien |date=1946-06-01 |title=Perry of Exeter |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1946/06/perry-of-exeter/656887/ |access-date=2024-04-09 |work=The Atlantic |language=en |issn=2151-9463}} In 1936, Exeter boasted an $8 million endowment for roughly 700 students, making it the richest boarding school in New England in both absolute and per capita terms.{{Cite book |last=Baltzell |first=E. Digby |title=Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |edition=Revised |location=New York, NY |pages=306}}

Perry used the money to improve student quality of life, expand access for the underrepresented, and build a more cohesive and higher-achieving student body. Under Perry's leadership, Exeter was able to provide housing for all its students for the first time. Perry also adopted a policy that scholarship students should comprise at least 20% of the student body.Williams, p. 140. He imposed greater restrictions on students' after-class activities, culminating in the abolition of fraternities in 1940.{{Cite magazine |date=1945-11-26 |title=Education: Goodbye, Mr. Perry |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,776449-2,00.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}} Perhaps counterintuitively, these restrictions limited the number of disciplinary cases and helped students improve their academics. From 1922 to 1931, the number of students expelled or asked to leave for academic reasons declined from 136 to 40.Williams, p. 111. When Perry retired, the school educated 725 boys.Williams, p. 209.

Despite Perry's reforms, Exeter retained a certain informality, which was reflected in the school's "unwritten code that there were no rules at the academy until you broke one."{{Cite news |last1=Lamb |first1=David |date=January 5, 1986 |title=Exeter Remembered: Prep School Gambler Who Finally Makes His Point |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-05-vw-24821-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411194732/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-05-vw-24821-story.html |archive-date=April 11, 2019 |access-date=August 26, 2019 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}} Expelled alumni include the journalist David Lamb and the writer and editor George Plimpton.File:Edward S Harkness Met.jpg, benefactor]]

Perry's largest financial windfall came on April 9, 1930, when philanthropist and oil magnate Edward Harkness wrote to Perry to propose a new way of teaching and learning, for which Harkness would donate funds to foot the bill:{{blockquote|What I have in mind is a classroom where students could sit around a table with a teacher who would talk with them and instruct them by a sort of tutorial or conference method, where each student would feel encouraged to speak up. This would be a real revolution in methods.{{cite book|last=Bass|display-authors=etal|first=Jo Ann F.|title=A declaration of readers' rights: renewing our commitment to students|year=2007|publisher=A & B/Pearson|location=Boston|isbn=978-0205499793|page=67|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o2vuAAAAMAAJ|access-date=September 24, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418122403/https://books.google.com/books?id=o2vuAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}}}

The result was "The Harkness Method," in which a teacher and a group of students work together, exchanging ideas and information in a seminar setting.{{Cite magazine |date=1930-12-01 |title=Education: House Plan in School |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,930713,00.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}} In November 1930, Harkness gave Exeter $5.8 million (approximately $110 million in February 2024 dollars) to support this initiative. To support the more intensive teaching style, Exeter's faculty grew from 32 teachers in 1914 to 82 in 1946. In addition, through Harkness' largesse, the academy was able to avoid cutting faculty salaries during the Great Depression, making it a rarity among boarding schools.Williams, p. 123.

Since 1930, Exeter's principal mode of instruction has been by discussion, "seminar style," around an oval table known as the Harkness Table.{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/phillips-exeter-harkness-table-2014-11|title=Why the Classes at Phillips Exeter Are Different Than at Any Other Private School|work=Business Insider|access-date=April 10, 2018|archive-date=May 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501235138/https://www.businessinsider.com/phillips-exeter-harkness-table-2014-11|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Phillips Exeter Academy {{!}} Harkness |url=http://www.exeter.edu/admissions/109_1220.aspx |access-date=January 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220030626/http://www.exeter.edu/admissions/109_1220.aspx |archive-date=December 20, 2012 }} Today, all classes are taught using this method, with no more than 12 students per class.{{Cite magazine |date=1981-05-25 |title=Education: Brains Plus Something More |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,924774,00.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}

William Saltonstall '24 (p. 1946-63) succeeded Perry and continued Perry's successful fundraising record. He began his tenure by completing a $5.6 million ($72 million in February 2024 dollars) fundraising drive, ending in 1948. Later that year, J. P. Morgan partner Thomas W. Lamont '88 (the former president of the board of trustees) left Exeter another $3.5 million in his will.

Under Saltonstall, the academy maintained strong ties to elite universities, although like nearly all boarding schools, it lost ground to public schools during this period. Exeter served as one of the testing grounds for the Advanced Placement program,Allis, pp. 549-54. and in 1957, it produced 11 of the 30 incoming Harvard students with enough AP credit to enter as sophomores.{{Cite web |title=The Exeter Man: Rebel Without a Cause {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1957/11/9/the-exeter-man-rebel-without-a/ |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=www.thecrimson.com}} In addition, in 1963 Exeter produced 73 National Merit Scholarship finalists, the most in the nation.{{Cite magazine |date=1963-03-15 |title=Education: Something Says Yes |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,870199,00.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}} However, elite universities relentlessly pushed Exeter to tighten academic standards even further, as Harvard's appetite for Exeter graduates meant that the top cut of Exeter students did not reflect the full breadth of the academy's contingent at Harvard. (In 1955, Harvard admitted 79% of applicants from Exeter and Andover;{{Cite book |last=Karabel |first=Jerome |title=The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton |publisher=Mariner Books |year=2006 |edition=Revised |location=New York |pages=258}} by contrast, in 1957, 30% of recent Exeter graduates made the dean's list at Harvard, compared to 40% for the entire freshman class.) Due to a surge of applicants from public schools, Exeter students no longer enjoyed near-automatic admission to the colleges of their choice. From 1953 to 1963, the percentage of Exeter graduates admitted to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton declined by a third, from 67% to 42%.

Faced with a decline in applicants,{{Cite web |title=Prep School Blues {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1971/2/16/prep-school-blues-pfive-years-ago/ |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=www.thecrimson.com}} the academy responded by broadening its student body. In 1969, Exeter stopped requiring students to attend a weekly religious service.{{Cite news |last=Oppenheimer |first=Mark |date=2014-04-11 |title=At Phillips Exeter, a World of Religious Diversity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/us/at-phillips-exeter-a-world-of-religious-diversity.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |work=The New York Times}} In 1970, it became coeducational;{{cite news |date=February 28, 1970 |title=Phillips Exeter to Go Coed |work=The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/2/28/phillips-exeter-to-go-coed-pthe/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909155207/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/2/28/phillips-exeter-to-go-coed-pthe/ |archive-date=September 9, 2013}} it later appointed its first female principal (Kendra Stearns O'Donnell) in 1987.{{cite web |url=http://www.exeter.edu/libraries/4513_4622.aspx |title=Phillips Exeter Academy – Academy Chronology |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617040752/http://www.exeter.edu/libraries/4513_4622.aspx |archive-date=June 17, 2008 |url-status=dead}} In 1996, to reflect the academy's coeducational status, a new gender-inclusive Latin inscription Hic Quaerite Pueri Puellaeque Virtutem et Scientiam ("Here, boys and girls, seek goodness and knowledge") was added over the main entrance to the Academy Building. This new inscription augments the original one—Huc Venite, Pueri, ut Viri Sitis ("Come hither boys so that ye may become men").{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhmfAAAAMAAJ|title=After the Harkness Gift: A History of Phillips Exeter Academy Since 1930|last=Heskel|first=Julia|author2=Dyer, Davis|publisher=Phillips Exeter Academy|year=2008|isbn=978-0-9769787-1-8|location=Exeter, N.H.|access-date=September 24, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418104102/https://books.google.com/books?id=FhmfAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} In 1999, 55% of incoming Exeter students came from public schools.{{Cite news |last1=Goldman |first1=Victoria |last2=Hausman |first2=Catherine |date=2000-11-12 |title=Less Austerity, More Diversity at PREP SCHOOL Today |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/12/education/less-austerity-more-diversity-at-prep-school-today.html |access-date=2023-10-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

On January 25, 2019, William K. Rawson '71 was appointed by the academy's trustees as the 16th Principal Instructor.{{Cite news| url=https://exeter.edu/news/bill-rawson-71-named-principal-phillips-exeter-academy| last1=Muldoon| first1=Brian| title=Bill Rawson '71 named principal at Phillips Exeter Academy| work=Phillips Exeter Academy| date=Jan 24, 2019| access-date=January 25, 2019| archive-date=April 18, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418114623/https://exeter.edu/news/bill-rawson-71-named-principal-phillips-exeter-academy| url-status=live}} He is the fourth alumnus of Exeter to serve as Principal, after Gideon Lane Soule (1838–1873), Harlan Amen (1895–1913), and William Saltonstall (1946–1963). In 2021, Rawson announced that Exeter would adopt a need-blind admissions policy, following a $90 million fundraising campaign to support financial aid.{{Cite web |title=A momentous decision |url=https://www.exeter.edu/news/momentous-decision |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en}} In 2025, Rawson announced that he would retire at the end of the 2025-26 school year.{{Cite web |title=Retirement of Principal Rawson |url=https://exeter.edu/retirement-of-principal-rawson/ |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en-US}}

In the later half of the 20th century, criteria for U.S. college and university admissions evolved to include more meritocratic considerations and an emphasis on wider demographic factors. Exeter reports that while 10 or more students attended seven of the eight Ivy League colleges (ex. Dartmouth) and MIT between the years 2022-24, 10 or more students also attended Boston College, Bowdoin, GWU, Georgetown, NYU, Northeastern, Tufts, UChicago, USC, and Wesleyan.{{Cite web |title=College Matriculation |url=https://exeter.edu/academics/college-counseling/college-matriculation/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en-US}}

Exeter uses an 11-point grading system, in which an A is worth 11 points and an E is worth 0 points.{{Cite web |title=Phillips Exeter Academy: 2024-25 Profile for Colleges |url=https://exeter.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-25_PEA_College_Profile.pdf |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy}} The academy's student-teacher ratio is 6:1, and 93% of Exeter faculty have postgraduate degrees.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-31 |title=FACTs brochure |url=https://issuu.com/exeteradmissions/docs/pea_facts_2024-25_issuu_10.18.24 |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |publisher=Issuu |language=en}}

Students who attend Exeter for four years are required to take courses in the arts, classical or modern languages, computer science, English, health & human development, history, mathematics, religion, and science. Most students receive an English diploma, but students who take the full series of Latin and Ancient Greek classes receive a Classical diploma.{{cite web|title=Courses of Instruction|url=http://www.exeter.edu/academics/8919_8933.aspx|access-date=January 6, 2013|archive-date=January 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115011420/http://www.exeter.edu/academics/8919_8933.aspx|url-status=live}}

Although Exeter administrators helped originate the Advanced Placement program, Exeter no longer offers AP courses, asserting that some of its courses "go well beyond the AP curriculum" and often reach "the pace and level of college courses." Exeter was one of the first private schools to begin phasing out AP classes, starting in the early 2000s.{{Cite news |last=Zhao |first=Yilu |date=2002-02-01 |title=High School Drops Its A.P. Courses, And Colleges Don't Seem to Mind |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/01/nyregion/high-school-drops-its-ap-courses-and-colleges-don-t-seem-to-mind.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |work=The New York Times}}

All classes at Exeter are taught seminar-style around Harkness Tables with no more than 10-12 students per class period. No classrooms have rows of desks or chairs, and lectures are uncommon. The completion of the Phelps Science Center in 2001 enabled all science classes, which previously had been taught in more conventional classrooms, to be conducted around the same Harkness Tables.{{cite book|last=Crosbie|first=Michael J.|title=Architecture for science|year=2004|publisher=Images Publ|location=Mulgrave, Vic.|isbn=978-1-920744-64-9|page=192|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ppa-moZjIAC&pg=PA193|access-date=September 24, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418122411/https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ppa-moZjIAC&pg=PA193|url-status=live}} Elements of the Harkness Method, including the Harkness Table, are now used in many independent schools around the world.{{cite web|title=St. Paul's School ~ Our Academic Program|url=http://www.sps.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=6187|access-date=January 2, 2013|archive-date=February 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214011312/http://www.sps.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=6187|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.harknessinstitute.org/Learning_process.html|title=We learn by doing!|website=Harknessinstitute.org|access-date=January 2, 2013|archive-date=May 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504234830/http://www.harknessinstitute.org/Learning_process.html|url-status=live}}

The Class of 2024's average combined SAT score was 1440 (717 reading, 723 math). Although Exeter does not offer AP courses, its students may take AP exams if they wish; the Class of 2023's pass rate was 94%.

{{Main|List of Phillips Exeter Academy people#Notable faculty members and trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy}}

• Founder of the Religion department Frederick Buechner, minister and authorNow and Then. Repr. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991. p. 47
• Instructor in History Michael Golay, historian and author{{Cite web|url=http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Michael-Golay/73457659|title=Michael Golay|website=Simon & Schuster|language=en|access-date=April 10, 2018|archive-date=April 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410134947/http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Michael-Golay/73457659|url-status=live}}
• Instructor in English Todd Hearon, poet{{Cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/todd-hearon|title=Todd Hearon|date=April 9, 2018|website=Poetry Foundation|language=en-us|access-date=April 10, 2018}}
• Instructor in English Willie Perdomo, poet and children's book author{{Cite news|url=http://www.fosters.com/news/20180227/berwick-academy-to-host-poet-author-willie-perdomo|title=Berwick Academy to host poet, author Willie Perdomo|work=fosters.com|access-date=April 10, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410135806/http://www.fosters.com/news/20180227/berwick-academy-to-host-poet-author-willie-perdomo|url-status=live}}
• Instructor in Mathematics Zuming Feng, U.S. International Mathematical Olympiad Program team coach from 1997 to 2013{{cite web |url=http://metroplexmathcircle.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/february-7-2009-dr-zuming-feng/ |title=Brief Biography of Zuming Feng from the University of Texas at Dallas |publisher=Metroplexmathcircle.wordpress.com |access-date=August 27, 2012 |date=February 3, 2009 |archive-date=April 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406150643/http://metroplexmathcircle.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/february-7-2009-dr-zuming-feng/ |url-status=live }}
• Instructor in Mathematics Gwynneth Coogan, Olympic athlete{{Cite web|url=https://www.exeter.edu/people/gwynneth-coogan-%E2%80%9983|title=Gwynneth Coogan '83|website=Phillips Exeter Academy|language=en|access-date=April 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410135555/https://www.exeter.edu/people/gwynneth-coogan-%E2%80%9983|archive-date=April 10, 2018|url-status=dead}}
• Instructor in Music Marilinda Garcia, former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives and harp player{{cite web |url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130817/NEWHAMPSHIRE1411/130819402/0/NEWS04 |title=Salem's Rep. Garcia named Republican rising star | New Hampshire Salem Observer |publisher=Unionleader.com |date=August 17, 2013 |access-date=October 23, 2013 |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011624/http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130817/NEWHAMPSHIRE1411/130819402/0/NEWS04 |url-status=live }}

During the tenure of Exeter's tenth principal, Richard W. Day, the Washington Intern Program and the Foreign Studies Program began.{{Cite news|url=http://pdf.phillipian.net/1973/05311973.pdf|title=Exeter Principal R.W. Day Resigns For New Career|date=May 31, 1973|work=The Phillipian}} Exeter offers the Washington Intern Program, where students intern in the office of a senator or congressional representative.{{Cite news|url=https://exeter.edu/news/capitol-experience|title=A Capitol Experience|work=Phillips Exeter Academy|access-date=April 10, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410135825/https://exeter.edu/news/capitol-experience|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1981/06/07/personal-glimpses-of-washington/f7822b61-5ce3-4360-9fa5-46e462190117/|title=Personal Glimpses of Washington|last1=Selden|first1=Nathan R. W. |date=June 7, 1981|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=April 10, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=April 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410201555/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1981/06/07/personal-glimpses-of-washington/f7822b61-5ce3-4360-9fa5-46e462190117/|url-status=live}} Exeter also participates in the Milton Academy Mountain School program, which allows students to study in a small rural setting in Vershire, Vermont.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mountainschool.org/school-history/|title=School History|website=The Mountain School|language=en-US|access-date=November 28, 2017|archive-date=December 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228113743/http://www.mountainschool.org/school-history/|url-status=live}} The academy currently sponsors trimester-long foreign study programs in Grenoble, Tema, Tokyo, Saint Petersburg, Stratford-upon-Avon, Eleuthera, Taichung, Göttingen, Rome, Cuenca, and Callan;{{Cite web|url=https://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/PEA-COI-17-18-Sept-2.pdf|title=2017–2018 Courses of Instruction|access-date=November 29, 2017|archive-date=September 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928150215/https://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/PEA-COI-17-18-Sept-2.pdf|url-status=live}} as well as school-year abroad programs in Beijing, Rennes, Viterbo, and Zaragoza.{{cite web|title=School Year Abroad – History |url=http://www.sya.org/s/833/index.aspx?sid=833&gid=1&pgid=730 |access-date=January 13, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214171807/http://www.sya.org/s/833/index.aspx?sid=833&gid=1&pgid=730 |archive-date=December 14, 2012 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sya.org/schools|title=Schools - School Year Abroad|website=www.sya.org|language=en-US|access-date=April 10, 2018}} The academy also offers foreign language summer programs in France, Japan, Spain, and Taiwan.

Exeter typically accepts 14–18% of applicants annually, including 18% in 2024.{{Cite web |title=PEA Admissions Rate Drops to 10% |url=https://theexonian.net/news/pea-admissions-rate-drops-to-10 |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=The Exonian |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=PEA Admissions Rate Rises to 14% |url=https://theexonian.net/news/pea-admissions-rate-rises-to-14 |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Exeter Admissions |language=en |via=Issuu}}{{Cite web |title=Academy Admits Class of 2027 |url=https://theexonian.net/news/academy-admits-class-of-2027nbsp |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=The Exonian |language=en-US}} The admission rate briefly dropped to 10% during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, 78.5% of admitted students chose to enroll at Exeter.

Exeter has admitted students on a need-blind basis since 2021. In the 2023–2024 school year, 13% of the students were legacy students.{{Citation needed|reason=no source or year provided|date=March 2024}}

In the 2024–2025 school year, Exeter enrolled 225 freshmen (in academy jargon, "juniors" or "preps"), 252 sophomores ("lower middlers" or "lowers"), 304 juniors ("upper middlers" or "uppers"), and 325 seniors and postgraduates ("seniors" and "PGs"), for a total enrollment of 1,106 students.{{cite web |title=Lexicon of Exeter Terminology and Slang |url=http://www.exeter.edu/documents/Lexicon_of_Exeter_Terminology_and_Slang_(2).pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030214937/http://exeter.edu/documents/Lexicon_of_Exeter_Terminology_and_Slang_%282%29.pdf |archive-date=October 30, 2012 |access-date=January 7, 2013}}

Exeter enrolls a racially and ethnically diverse student body. In the 2024–2025 school year, 57.1% of Exeter students identified as students of color. In the 2019–2020 school year, 52% of the academy's 314 incoming students previously attended U.S. public schools.{{Cite web |title=Exeter at a Glance |url=https://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Exeter-at-a-Glance-2019-2020.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330013136/https://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Exeter-at-a-Glance-2019-2020.pdf |archive-date=March 30, 2020 |access-date=May 29, 2020 |website=Exeter.edu}}

In September 2024, the Exeter student body included students from 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and 32 countries. 9.9% of students are international students, and another 6.2% are U.S. citizens residing outside the United States.

Most Exeter students (81%) live on campus. The remaining 19% are day students who commute to Exeter from nearby communities.

In the 2024–2025 school year, Exeter charged boarding students $69,537 and day students $54,312.{{Cite web |title=Tuition & Costs |url=https://exeter.edu/admissions/financial-aid/tuition-costs/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en-US}} 45% of Exeter students are on financial aid, which covers, on average, $56,315 for boarders and $37,770 for day students.{{Cite web |title=Financial Aid Profiler |url=https://exeter.edu/admissions/financial-aid/financial-aid-calculator/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en-US}}

Exeter admits students on a need-blind basis and commits to offering financial aid that covers 100% of demonstrated financial need.{{Cite web |title=Need-blind admissions explained |url=https://www.exeter.edu/news/need-blind-admissions-explained |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Tuition & Financial Aid |url=https://www.exeter.edu/finaid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424112523/https://exeter.edu/admissions-and-financial-aid/tuition-financial-aid/am-i-eligible-financial-aid |archive-date=2024-04-24 |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Tuition and Financial Aid |url=https://www.andover.edu/admission/tuition-and-financial-aid |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Phillips Academy |language=en-US}} Since 2008, Exeter has also guaranteed free tuition for families with incomes under a certain threshold.{{Cite news |last=Sato |first=Hiroko |date=2007-11-26 |title=Private-school education -- at no cost? It's possible |url=http://www.lowellsun.com//ci_7562123?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301192939/http://www.lowellsun.com//ci_7562123?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com |archive-date=2014-03-01 |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The Lowell Sun}} In 2024, Exeter raised the threshold from $75,000 to $125,000.{{Cite web |title=Am I Eligible for Financial Aid? |url=https://exeter.edu/admissions-and-financial-aid/tuition-financial-aid/am-i-eligible-financial-aid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913200720/https://exeter.edu/admissions-and-financial-aid/tuition-financial-aid/am-i-eligible-financial-aid |archive-date=2024-09-13 |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en}}

Exeter's financial endowment stands at $1.6 billion as of June 30, 2024. In its Internal Revenue Service filings for the 2021-22 school year, Exeter reported total assets of $1.91 billion, net assets of $1.71 billion, investment holdings of $1.22 billion, and cash holdings of $242.6 million. Exeter also reported $124.0 million in program service expenses and $25.3 million in grants (primarily student financial aid).{{Cite web |date=2013-05-12 |title=IRS Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/20222174/202331329349308898/full |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}

File:Exeter Tree Halo.jpg

File:Exeter library interior.jpg]]

• The Academy Building (1914) is the fourth such building, and was built after the third burned down. Designed by Exeter alumnus Ralph Adams Cram,{{cite book| last=Walker Aten| first=Carol | title=Postcards from Exeter| year=2003| publisher=Arcadia| location=Portsmouth, NH| isbn=978-0-7385-3481-7| page=45| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nE2qbeXR9YC&pg=PA44| access-date=September 24, 2016| archive-date=April 18, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418135636/https://books.google.com/books?id=_nE2qbeXR9YC&pg=PA44| url-status=live}} the Academy Building houses the History, Math, Religion and Classical Languages departments, along with an archaeology/anthropology museum.{{cite web| title=Rooms with a View – A Portfolio of Exeter Classrooms| url=http://www.exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/Classroom_Portraits_Fall_07.pdf| access-date=January 7, 2013| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309090316/http://exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/Classroom_Portraits_Fall_07.pdf| archive-date=March 9, 2013| df=mdy-all}} In the 1920s and 1930s, Lewis Perry expanded the building to add the Assembly Hall (formerly the Chapel) and connect it to the Mayer Art Center (formerly Alumni Hall).
• Mayer Art Center (1903) houses the Art Department and the Lamont Gallery, as well as the College Counseling Office. It contains a large ceramics studio with approximately twenty wheels and three kilns on the first floor, two printmaking studios and three drawing/painting studios on the second floor, and an architectural and 3-D design studio on the third floor. The school purchased a 3-D printer in 2013.
• The Class of 1945 Library (1972) is the largest secondary-school library in the world, with a shelf capacity of 250,000 volumes.{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Adelyn |date=2010-06-09 |title=AD Classics: Exeter Library (Class of 1945 Library) / Louis Kahn |url=https://www.archdaily.com/63683/ad-classics-exeter-library-class-of-1945-library-louis-kahn |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=ArchDaily |language=en-US}} In 2007, a public vote ranked Louis Kahn's Brutalist design #80 on the 2007 list of America's Favorite Architecture.American Institute of Architects, [http://favoritearchitecture.org/ FavoriteArchitecture.org website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304063617/http://favoritearchitecture.org/|date=March 4, 2012}} The New York Times' architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable called the building a "stunning paean to books."{{cite book| last=Huxtable| first=Ada Louise| title=On architecture: collected reflections on a century of change| year=2008| publisher=Walker| location=New York| isbn=978-0-8027-1707-8| page=188| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2nDO99m5-cC&pg=PA188| edition=1st U.S.| access-date=September 24, 2016| archive-date=April 18, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418121405/https://books.google.com/books?id=t2nDO99m5-cC&pg=PA188| url-status=live}}
• Elizabeth Phillips Academy Center (EPAC) (2006), formerly the Phelps Center, serves as the academy's student center. It houses a student commons, post office, day student lounge, academic support center, student grill, and the Forum (a 300-person auditorium). It also hosts several student organizations.{{Cite web|url=https://www.exeter.edu/campus/facilities/community-spaces|title=Community Hubs|website=Phillips Exeter Academy|language=en|access-date=September 8, 2018|archive-date=September 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908164447/https://www.exeter.edu/campus/facilities/community-spaces|url-status=live}}
• Goel Center (2018) houses the theater and dance departments.{{Cite web|url=https://www.exeter.edu/about-us/our-campus/south-campus-renewal/south-campus-facilities/center-theater-and-dance|title=Goel Center for Theater and Dance|website=Phillips Exeter Academy|language=en|access-date=September 8, 2018|archive-date=September 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908164940/https://www.exeter.edu/about-us/our-campus/south-campus-renewal/south-campus-facilities/center-theater-and-dance|url-status=live}}
• Phillips Hall (1932) houses the English and Modern Languages departments. It was purpose-built for the then-new Harkness system.
• Phelps Science Center (2001) houses science laboratories and classrooms. In 2004, Centerbrook Architects & Planners received the American Institute of Architects New Hampshire's Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture for its work on the center.{{cite web| title=Centerbrook Architects and Planners > Complete List of Awards| url=http://www.centerbrook.com/about/awards_list| access-date=January 2, 2013| archive-date=December 28, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228210525/http://www.centerbrook.com/about/awards_list| url-status=live}}
• Forrestal Bowld Music Center (1995) houses the Music Department, the Music Library, a recital hall, three rehearsal halls, faculty offices, and dozens of rehearsal rooms.{{cite web|url=http://www.exeter.edu/map/link/forrestalbowldlink.html|title=Tour|website=Exeter.edu|access-date=January 7, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601121050/http://www.exeter.edu/map/link/forrestalbowldlink.html|archive-date=June 1, 2013}} It received the Honor Award in Architecture Design by the Boston Society of Architects in 1996.

• The George H. Love 1917 Gymnasium (1969){{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/27/obituaries/george-h-love-90-industrialist-who-headed-two-corporations.html|title=George H. Love, 90, Industrialist Who Headed Two Corporations|last=Fowler|first=Glenn|date=July 27, 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 12, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212203140/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/27/obituaries/george-h-love-90-industrialist-who-headed-two-corporations.html|url-status=live}} contains 10 international sized squash courts, a swimming pool, three basketball courts, a weight-training room, a sports-science lab, and two hockey rinks.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kmwarch.com/project.aspx?cat=2&id=3|title=Phillips Exeter Academy George H. Love'18 Athletic Facility, Exeter by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects|website=www.kmwarch.com|access-date=February 12, 2018|archive-date=February 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213021650/http://www.kmwarch.com/project.aspx?cat=2&id=3|url-status=live}}
• The William Boyce Thompson 1890 Gymnasium (1918) contains a basketball court, a dance studio, a cycling training room, a second swimming pool, and a media room.
• The Thompson Fieldhouse (2018) contains four indoor tennis courts, two batting cages, a wrestling room, and an indoor track.{{Cite web |title=New field house opens at Exeter {{!}} Phillips Exeter Academy |url=https://exeter.edu/news/new-field-house-opens-exeter |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213021837/https://exeter.edu/news/new-field-house-opens-exeter |archive-date=February 13, 2018 |access-date=February 12, 2018 |website=exeter.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Athletic Field House {{!}} Phillips Exeter Academy |url=https://www.exeter.edu/about-us/our-campus/south-campus-renewal/south-campus-facilities/athletic-field-house |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228194335/https://www.exeter.edu/about-us/our-campus/south-campus-renewal/south-campus-facilities/athletic-field-house |archive-date=December 28, 2017 |access-date=February 12, 2018 |website=www.exeter.edu |language=en}} The site previously hosted the Thompson Cage (1931), which contained wrestling, gymnastics, and track facilities.
• The Downer Family Fitness Center (2015) contains weight lifting resources, aerobic machines, and turf space.
• Roger Nekton Championship Pool is named for the long-serving former swimming and water polo coach.
• The William G. Saltonstall Boathouse (1990) is a rowing facility on the Squamscott River.
• Outdoor facilities
• Phelps Stadium (football, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey)
• Amos Alonzo Stagg 1884 Baseball Diamond
• Hilliard Lacrosse Field
• George Arthur Plimpton 1873 Playing Fields
• Ralph Lovshin Track, named for the academy's long-serving track coach Ralph Lovshin.

The academy also hosts 19 outdoor tennis courts, several miles of cross-country trails, and a wrestling practice room.{{cite web|title=Phillips Exeter Academy {{!}} Athletic Facilities |url=http://www.exeter.edu/athletics/185_4201.aspx |access-date=January 6, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115034015/http://exeter.edu/athletics/185_4201.aspx |archive-date=January 15, 2013}}

• Phillips Church was originally built as the Second Parish Church in 1897 and was purchased by the academy in 1922. The building was designed by Ralph Adams Cram. Although originally a church, the building now contains spaces for students of many faiths. It includes a Hindu shrine, a Muslim prayer room and ablutions fountain, a kosher kitchen, and a meditation room. Services that are particular to Phillips Church include Evening Prayer on Tuesday nights, Thursday Meditation, and Indaba—a religious open forum.
• Nathaniel Gilman House (1740) houses the academy's Alumni and Alumnae Affairs and Development Office. This home, as well as the Benjamin Clark Gilman House which is also owned by the academy, were built for the Gilman family, a group of prominent Exeter donors. The Gilman House is a large colonial white clapboard home with a gambrel roof hipped at one end, a leaded fanlight over the front door and a wide panelled entry hall.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVNm_97RrcwC&pg=PA163|title=New Hampshire: A Guide to the Granite State, Federal Writers' Project, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1938|isbn=9781603540285|year=1938|publisher=Federal Writers' Project|access-date=September 24, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418104100/https://books.google.com/books?id=NVNm_97RrcwC&pg=PA163|url-status=live}}
• The Davis Center, formerly a library, houses financial aid offices. It was designed by Ralph Adams Cram.

{{See also|Andover–Exeter rivalry}}

Exeter offers 65 interscholastic sports teams at the varsity and junior varsity level, 27 intramural sports teams, and various fitness classes. All students are required to participate in athletics.

Basketball, water polo, wrestling, swimming, cycling, soccer, squash, cross country, crew, and ice hockey teams have won recent New England championships.{{cite web|title=Race Results Report |url=http://results.usrowing.org/RaceResults/2008YouthResults.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508210259/http://results.usrowing.org/RaceResults/2008YouthResults.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 8, 2012 |access-date=January 7, 2013 }}

Exeter has graduated multiple elite athletes in the past few decades. For example, crew Olympians include Anne Marden '76, Rajanya Shah '92, Sabrina Kolker '98, and Andréanne Morin '02. Georgia Gould is an Olympic medalist in mountain biking, while Joy Fahrenkrog is a member of the United States Archery Team. Duncan Robinson plays for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. Tom Cavanagh played in the National Hockey League. Sam Fuld played 8 years of Major League Baseball, and became the General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2020.

Exeter's main athletic rival is Phillips Academy, better known as Andover. The two schools have been competing against each other in both baseball and football since 1878 (in those first games, Exeter defeated Andover 12–0 in baseball, while Andover won the football game, 22-0).{{cite web|url=http://www.exeter.edu/libraries/553_4389.aspx |title=Academy Chronology |publisher=Phillips Exeter Academy |access-date=November 22, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115034412/http://exeter.edu/libraries/553_4389.aspx |archive-date=January 15, 2013 }} Today, Exeter-Andover weekend is still a large tradition in both schools.

Other athletic opponents include a variety of New England private schools such as Belmont Hill School, Berwick Academy, Deerfield Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon, Brewster Academy, Choate Rosemary Hall, Groton School, The Governor's Academy, Loomis Chaffee, Tabor Academy, Milton Academy, Avon Old Farms, Worcester Academy, Cushing Academy, and various other northeastern prep and boarding schools.{{cite web|title=Phillips Exeter Academy {{!}} Go Big Red!|url=http://www.exeter.edu/athletics/185.aspx|access-date=January 7, 2013|archive-date=January 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115033052/http://exeter.edu/athletics/185.aspx|url-status=live}}

The academy has over 100 clubs listed. The number of functioning and reputable clubs fluctuates; several of the listed clubs on the website do not hold tables on Club Night. The Exonian is the school's weekly newspaper. It is the oldest continuously running preparatory school newspaper in the United States, having begun publishing in 1878. Recently, The Exonian began online publication.{{cite web|url=http://www.theexonian.com/|title=The Exonian|work=theexonian.com|access-date=July 3, 2015|archive-date=June 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610004538/http://theexonian.com/|url-status=live}} The Exonian has been a finalist for a National Pacemaker Award several times, winning in 2007. Other long-established clubs include ESSO, which focuses on social service outreach, and the PEAN, which is the academy's yearbook. Exeter also has the oldest surviving secondary school society, the Golden Branch (founded in 1818),{{Cite web |title=Academy Chronology |url=https://www.exeter.edu/about-us/academy-chronology |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Phillips Exeter Academy |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Cunningham |first=Frank Herbert |url=http://archive.org/details/familiarsketche00cunngoog |title=Familiar sketches of the Phillips Exeter Academy and surroundings |date=1883 |publisher=Boston, J. R. Osgood |others=University of California}} a society for public speaking, inspired by PEA's Rhetorical Society of 1807–1820. Now known as the Daniel Webster Debate Society, these groups served as America's first secondary school organization for oratory.{{harv|Echols|1970|p=21}} The Model UN club has won the "Best Small Delegation" award at HMUN.{{cite web|title=The Exonian|url=https://theexonian.com/2017/02/02/exeter-sweeps-at-hmun/|access-date=April 2, 2017|date=February 2, 2017|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418132529/https://theexonian.com/2017/02/02/exeter-sweeps-at-hmun/|url-status=live}} Exeter's Mock Trial Association, founded by attorney and historian Walter Stahr,{{Cite web|url=https://www.peamt.org/about-us/|title=About Us|website=PEA Mock Trial|language=en-US|access-date=February 27, 2018|archive-date=February 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227213727/https://www.peamt.org/about-us/|url-status=live}} has since 2011 claimed seventeen individual titles, five all-around state titles, and a top-ten spot at the National High School Mock Trial Championship.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.theexonian.com/cgi-bin/exeter?a=d&d=txn20130609-01.2.227&srpos=10&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Mock++Trial------|title=The Exonian 9 June 2013 — The Exonian Archives|website=archive.theexonian.com|access-date=February 27, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418114631/https://archive.theexonian.com/cgi-bin/exeter?a=d&d=txn20130609-01.2.227&srpos=10&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Mock++Trial------|url-status=live}}

Close to 80% of students live in the dormitories, with the other 20% commuting from homes within a {{convert|30|mi|km|adj=on}} radius. Each residence hall has several faculty members and senior student proctors. There are check-in hours of 8:00 pm (for first- and second-year students), 9:00pm (for third years), and 10:00 pm (for seniors) during the weekdays and 11:00 pm on Saturday night.{{cite web |title=The E Book 2012–2013 |url=http://www.exeter.edu/documents/EBook.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224005633/http://www.exeter.edu/documents/EBook.pdf |archive-date=December 24, 2012 |access-date=January 2, 2013}}

File:Phillips Exeter Academy Panorama.jpg

Religious life on campus is supported by the Religious Services Department, which provides a vintage stone chapel and a full-service ministry for the spiritual needs of students."[https://www.exeter.edu/student-life/campus-connections/phillips-church Phillips Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627171507/http://exeter.edu/student-life/campus-connections/phillips-church |date=June 27, 2017 }}", Phillips Exeter Academy, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017. The chapel was originally built in 1895 and has been updated. It accommodates worship for "twelve religious traditions including Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Quaker, Buddhist, Catholic among others""[https://www.cramandferguson.com/philips-church/ Phillips Church at Phillips Exeter Academy: Exeter, NH] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814102920/https://www.cramandferguson.com/philips-church/ |date=August 14, 2017 }}", Cram and Ferguson Architects. Retrieved June 22, 2017. as well as Secular Humanism.

Weekly attendance at the religious service of their choice was required of students until 1969, after which religion at Exeter stagnated until it was revived by a new approach "as concerned with the religious dimension of all of our lives as it is with the particular religious needs of any one of us." A renovation of Phillips Church, completed in 2002, provided spaces for worship and meditation for students of diverse religious persuasions.Oppenheimer, Mark. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/us/at-phillips-exeter-a-world-of-religious-diversity.html At Phillips Exeter, a World of Religious Diversity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130062930/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/us/at-phillips-exeter-a-world-of-religious-diversity.html |date=November 30, 2018 }}", The New York Times, April 11, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2017.

An incident of student misconduct that occurred in the basement of Phillips Church in late 2015 brought criticism to the Academy.{{Cite news| last1=Abelson| first1=Jenn| url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/12/phillips-exeter-academy-under-fire-again-for-its-handling-sexual-misconduct-allegations/UlfO1FgtbFEvWAQcEK7grN/story.html| title=Phillips Exeter Academy under fire again for its handling of sexual misconduct allegations| newspaper=The Boston Globe| date=July 13, 2016| access-date=June 22, 2017| archive-date=July 8, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708043156/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/12/phillips-exeter-academy-under-fire-again-for-its-handling-sexual-misconduct-allegations/UlfO1FgtbFEvWAQcEK7grN/story.html| url-status=live}} An in-depth investigation uncovered sexual misconduct that had occurred at Exeter since the 1970s and involved at least 11 members of the faculty and staff. The report harshly criticized the school for not supporting victims when they reported incidents and for a pattern of not including these allegations in faculty members' files. In April 2016, Exeter hired the law firm of Holland & Knight LLP to investigate allegations of past misconduct by Exeter faculty and staff. A report was released in August 2018 providing an overview of the investigation and its findings.{{Cite web|title=Overview of the Holland & Knight Investigations|url=https://exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Holland%20and%20Knight%20Overview%20Aug24_2018.pdf|access-date=June 17, 2020|archive-date=November 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104121309/http://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Holland%20and%20Knight%20Overview%20Aug24_2018.pdf|url-status=live}}

Through this process, Holland & Knight was assigned and completed 28 investigations. Of those 28 matters, 26 involved reported misconduct of a sexual nature by an Exeter faculty or staff member towards an Exeter student occurring at various points from the 1950s to the 2010s. During the course of these investigations, Holland & Knight conducted approximately 294 interviews of over 170 individuals.{{Cite web|date=August 2018|title=Overview of the Holland & Knight Investigations|url=https://exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Holland%20and%20Knight%20Overview%20Aug24_2018.pdf|access-date=June 17, 2020|archive-date=November 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104121309/http://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Holland%20and%20Knight%20Overview%20Aug24_2018.pdf|url-status=live}} The persons interviewed were located in various states, as well as overseas. According to the findings, the school maintained two sets of files, and would keep the more sensitive material away from Human Resources and prospective employers. Some of these faculty members would then leave Exeter but get hired at other boarding schools. In at least one case, the teacher then molested students at their next school. The allegations involve staffers who have since been fired, left the school or have died. Several have been named in the past by the school. In a 2018 letter, senior Exeter officials apologized to the school community, including victims who have come forward and those who have remained silent.{{Cite web|title=11 former New Hampshire prep school staffers accused of abuse|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/phillips-exeter-academy-new-hampshire-former-staffers-accused-of-abuse-2018-08-25/|access-date=2020-06-17|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=August 25, 2018 |language=en-US|archive-date=August 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816123736/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/phillips-exeter-academy-new-hampshire-former-staffers-accused-of-abuse-2018-08-25/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/us/phillips-exeter-sex-assault.html| last1=Pérez-Peña| first1=Richard| title=Phillips Exeter Deans Failed to Report Sex Assault Case, Police Say| work=The New York Times| date=November 14, 2017| access-date=August 26, 2019| archive-date=August 16, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816125239/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/us/phillips-exeter-sex-assault.html| url-status=live}}

Exeter has two chief symbols: a seal depicting a river, sun and beehive, incorporating the academy's mottos; and the Lion Rampant. The seal has similarities to that used by Phillips Academy—an emblem designed by Paul Revere—and its imagery is Masonic in nature. A beehive often represented the industry and cooperation of a lodge or, in this case, the studies and united efforts of Academy students. The Lion Rampant is derived from the Phillips family's coat of arms, and suggests that all of the academy's alumni are part of the "Exonian family".

Exeter has three mottoes on the academy seal: Non Sibi (Latin 'Not for oneself') indicating a life based on community and duty; Finis origine pendet (Latin 'The end depends on the beginning') reflecting Exeter's emphasis on hard work as preparation for a fruitful adult life; and Χάριτι Θεοῦ (Greek 'By the grace of God') reflecting Exeter's Calvinist origins, of which the only remnant today is the school's requirement that most students take two courses in religion or philosophy.{{cite web|title=Phillips Exeter Academy {{!}} Academy Archives|url=https://www.exeter.edu/academics/library/archives-special-collections|access-date=January 7, 2013|archive-date=March 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304091507/http://www.exeter.edu/academics/library/archives-special-collections|url-status=live}}

There are several variants of school colors associated with Phillips Exeter Academy that range from crimson red and white to burgundy red and silver. Black is also a color associated with the school to a lesser extent. The official school colors are lively maroon and gray. The traditional school tie is a burgundy red tie with alternating diagonal silver stripes and silver lions rampant. The school’s athletic teams today wear the Pantone Matching System color PMS201.

File:Abraham Lincoln letter Exeter New Hampshire.jpg to Mary Todd Lincoln, written from Exeter, where Lincoln was visiting son Robert Todd Lincoln, then an Exeter student. March 1860]]

{{Main|List of Phillips Exeter Academy people#Notable alumni}}

Early alumni of Exeter include US Senator Daniel Webster (1796);{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000238|title=WEBSTER, Daniel, (1782–1852)|dictionary=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=December 14, 2013|archive-date=December 13, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121213031910/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000238|url-status=live}} John Adams Dix (1809){{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsjohnadam02dixgoog|title=Memoirs of John Adams Dix|last=Dix|first=Morgan|date=1883|publisher=Harper & Brothers|language=en}} a Secretary of the Treasury and Governor of New York; US President Franklin Pierce (1820);{{cite web|url=http://totallyhistory.com/franklin-pierce/|title=Franklin Pierce|publisher=Totally History|access-date=December 14, 2013|date=September 28, 2011|archive-date=March 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327225519/http://totallyhistory.com/franklin-pierce/|url-status=live}} physician and founder of Sigma Pi Phi Henry McKee Minton (1851); Abraham Lincoln's son and 35th Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln (1860);{{Cite news|url=http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20100305/NEWS/3050330|title=Whatever happened to Robert Todd Lincoln?|work=seacoastonline.com|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073426/http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20100305/NEWS/3050330|url-status=live}} Ulysses S. Grant, Jr. (1870);{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzPd0aVnOl0C&pg=PA73|title=All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families|last=Wead|first=Doug|date=January 6, 2004|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-7434-4633-4|page=73|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418132507/https://books.google.com/books?id=AzPd0aVnOl0C&pg=PA73|url-status=live}} Richard and Francis Cleveland;{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVNm_97RrcwC&pg=PA163|title=New Hampshire: A Guide to the Granite State, Federal Writers' Project, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1938|isbn=978-1-60354-028-5|page=163|year=1938|publisher=Federal Writers' Project|access-date=September 24, 2016|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418104100/https://books.google.com/books?id=NVNm_97RrcwC&pg=PA163|url-status=live}} "grandfather of football" Amos Alonzo Stagg (1880);{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/12/16/archives/stagg-at-exeter-dinner-football-coach-tells-academy-alumni-of-his.html|title=Stagg at Exter Dinner – Football Coach Tells Academy Alumni of His Student Days|date=December 16, 1932|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408075540/https://www.nytimes.com/1932/12/16/archives/stagg-at-exeter-dinner-football-coach-tells-academy-alumni-of-his.html|url-status=live}} Pulitzer Prize-winning author Booth Tarkington (1889){{Cite news|url=https://www.ibj.com/articles/60109-booth-tarkington-hoosier-novelist|title=Hoosier Beacon: Booth Tarkington, Hoosier novelist|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=November 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129141104/https://www.ibj.com/articles/60109-booth-tarkington-hoosier-novelist|url-status=live}} and Hugo W. Koehler (1903), American naval attache' and intelligence agent during the Russian Revolution.{{cite book|author=Phillips Exeter Academy|title=General Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Phillips Exeter Academy. 1783–1903|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ILjOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA186|year=1903|publisher=News-letter Press|page=186|access-date=March 4, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418135428/https://books.google.com/books?id=ILjOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA186|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Harvard College (1780- ). Class of 1907|title=Secretary's Fourth Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CcknAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA216|year=1917|publisher=Plimpton Press|page=216|access-date=March 4, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418123713/https://books.google.com/books?id=CcknAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA216|url-status=live}} John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace and Peace Breaks Out, was a 1945 graduate; both novels are set at the fictional Devon School, which serves as an analog for his alma mater.{{Cite news|url=http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20011204/News/312049973|title=Author John Knowles dies|last=Magrone|first=Callie|work=seacoastonline.com|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073720/http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20011204/News/312049973|url-status=live}}

Other alumni noted for their work in government include Gifford Pinchot,{{Cite web|url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/greytowers/aboutgreytowers/history/?cid=stelprd3824502|title=Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946)|date=2018|website=United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=August 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818090657/https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/greytowers/aboutgreytowers/history/?cid=stelprd3824502|url-status=live}} Lewis Cass,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6UZAAAAAIAAJ|title=General Catalogue of Officers and Students, 1783–1903|publisher=Phillips Exeter Academy|year=1903|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6UZAAAAAIAAJ/page/n87 75]}} Judd Gregg,{{Cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1876822,00.html|title=Commerce Secretary Judd Gregg|last=Altman|first=Alex|date=February 4, 2009|magazine=Time|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X|archive-date=May 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512125209/http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1876822,00.html|url-status=live}} Jay Rockefeller,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/21/magazine/rockefeller-s-assets.html|title=Rockefeller's Assets|last=Toner|first=Robin|work=The New York Times |date=July 21, 1991 |access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073731/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/21/magazine/rockefeller-s-assets.html|url-status=live}} Kent Conrad,{{Cite news|url=http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/conrad-s-early-career-marked-by-win-pledge/article_d7e4ba92-4b8f-11e2-9c2b-001a4bcf887a.html|title=Conrad's early career marked by 1986 win, pledge|last=Smith|first=Nick|work=Bismarck Tribune|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141318/http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/conrad-s-early-career-marked-by-win-pledge/article_d7e4ba92-4b8f-11e2-9c2b-001a4bcf887a.html|url-status=live}} John Negroponte,{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2007/01/29/for-negroponte-move-to-state-dept-is-a-homecoming/f7a692fb-a6b7-4bcf-bf60-60725e6be8d0/|title=For Negroponte, Move to State Dept. Is a Homecoming|last=Blumenfeld|first=Laura|date=January 29, 2007|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141321/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2007/01/29/for-negroponte-move-to-state-dept-is-a-homecoming/f7a692fb-a6b7-4bcf-bf60-60725e6be8d0/|url-status=live}} Bobby Shriver,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZmXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101|title=RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream|last=Oppenheimer|first=Jerry|date=2015|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-1-250-03295-9|page=101|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418123715/https://books.google.com/books?id=JZmXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA101|url-status=live}} Robert Bauer{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-bauer/gIQAgz4w6O_topic.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925185413/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-bauer/gIQAgz4w6O_topic.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 25, 2012|title=Bob Bauer|date=July 26, 2012|newspaper=Washington Post|language=EN|access-date=April 7, 2018}} and Peter Orszag.{{cite web|url=http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41454&dcn=todaysnews|title=Obama expected to name Peter Orszag OMB director (11/18/08)|publisher=GovExec.com|access-date=January 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606132136/http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41454&dcn=todaysnews|archive-date=June 6, 2011|url-status=dead}} Alumni notable for their military service include Secretary of Navy George Bancroft, Benjamin Butler,West, Richard Sedgewick (1965). Lincoln's Scapegoat General: A Life of Benjamin F. Butler, 1818–1893. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. and Charles C. Krulak.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usna.edu/Notables/commandants/1964krulak.php|title=Charles C. Krulak :: Notable Graduates :: USNA|website=www.usna.edu|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=June 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613160723/https://www.usna.edu/Notables/commandants/1964krulak.php|url-status=live}} Authors George Plimpton,{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/10/06/george-plimpton|title=George Plimpton|last=Remnick|first=David|date=September 29, 2003|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073503/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/10/06/george-plimpton|url-status=live}} John Knowles, Gore Vidal,Gore Vidal: A Critical Companion Susan Baker, Curtis S. Gibson. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997. {{ISBN|0-313-29579-4}}. p. 3. John Irving (whose stepfather taught at Exeter),{{Cite web|url=http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/f05/johnirving.html|title=Becoming John Irving|website=unhmagazine.unh.edu|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429052013/http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/f05/johnirving.html|url-status=live}} Robert Anderson,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/theater/10anderson.html|title=Robert Anderson, Playwright of 'Tea and Sympathy,' Dies at 91|last=Weber|first=Bruce|date=February 10, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408074153/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/theater/10anderson.html|url-status=live}} Dan Brown (whose father taught at Exeter),{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/when-dan-brown-came-to-visit|title=When Dan Brown Came to Visit|last=Rothman|first=Joshua|date=June 21, 2013|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408145732/https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/when-dan-brown-came-to-visit|url-status=live}} Peter Benchley,{{Cite web|url=https://www.harpercollins.com/cr-100425/nathaniel-benchley|title=Nathaniel Benchley|website=HarperCollins US|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=December 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208071146/https://www.harpercollins.com/cr-100425/nathaniel-benchley|url-status=live}} James Agee,{{Cite web|url=http://www.ageefilms.org/ageebio.html|title=Agee FIlms: Agee Chronology|website=www.ageefilms.org|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=October 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027224319/http://www.ageefilms.org/ageebio.html|url-status=dead}} Chang-Rae Lee,Wu, Yung-Hsing. "Chang-rae Lee." Asian- American Writers. Ed. Deborah L. Madsen. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 312. Literature Resource Center. Web. April 19, 2014. Debby Herbenick,{{Cite web|url=https://exeter.edu/about-us/our-commitment-safety/how-we-educate-students|title=How We Educate Students|website=Phillips Exeter Academy|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073926/https://exeter.edu/about-us/our-commitment-safety/how-we-educate-students|url-status=live}} Stewart Brand,{{Cite web|url=http://sb.longnow.org/SB_homepage/Bio.html|title=Bio...|website=sb.longnow.org|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006000225/http://sb.longnow.org/SB_homepage/Bio.html|url-status=live}} Norb Vonnegut,{{Cite web|url=http://newmancom.com/2011/07/18/book-tour-for-best-selling-author-norb-vonnegut/|title=Book tour for best-selling author, Norb Vonnegut » Newman Communications|website=newmancom.com|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141217/http://newmancom.com/2011/07/18/book-tour-for-best-selling-author-norb-vonnegut/|url-status=live}} and Roland Merullo{{Cite web|url=http://rolandmerullo.com/index-1.html|title=About|website=rolandmerullo.com|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=July 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722003821/http://rolandmerullo.com/index-1.html|url-status=live}} also attended the academy.

Other notable alumni include businessmen Stockton Rush, Joseph Coors,{{Cite news|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2012/09/22/joe-coors-jr-former-black-sheep-of-family-now-running-for-office/|title=Joe Coors Jr., former black sheep of family, now running for office|date=September 22, 2012|work=The Denver Post|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=May 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502221634/https://www.denverpost.com/2012/09/22/joe-coors-jr-former-black-sheep-of-family-now-running-for-office/|url-status=live}} Michael Lynton,{{Cite web|url=http://www.robertboynton.com/articleDisplay.php?article_id=42|title=Robert Boynton|website=www.robertboynton.com|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=January 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113092928/http://www.robertboynton.com/articleDisplay.php?article_id=42|url-status=live}} Tom Steyer,{{Cite news|url=https://www.mensjournal.com/features/tom-steyer-an-inconvenient-billionaire-20140218|title=Tom Steyer: An Inconvenient Billionaire|date=February 18, 2014|work=Men's Journal|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=October 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010172906/https://www.mensjournal.com/features/tom-steyer-an-inconvenient-billionaire-20140218//|url-status=live}} Mark Zuckerberg,Vargas, Jose Antonio. [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/09/20/the-face-of-facebook "The Face of Facenook; Mark Zuckerberg Opens Up"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218043833/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/09/20/the-face-of-facebook |date=February 18, 2020 }}, The New Yorker, September 20, 2010. Accessed March 21, 2017. "According to his Facebook profile, Zuckerberg has three sisters (Randi, Donna, and Arielle), all of whom he's friends with. He's friends with his parents, Karen and Edward Zuckerberg. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and attended Harvard University." David Goel,{{cite web |url=http://www.exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/exeter_initiatives/Prospectus.pdf |title=The Exeter Bulletin Special Edition |publisher=Phillips Exeter Academy |access-date=February 14, 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053531/http://www.exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/exeter_initiatives/Prospectus.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }} and Stephen Mandel;{{Cite web| url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/stephen-mandel-jr/#32c116d151b7| title=#316 Stephen Mandel Jr.| work=Forbes 400| date=February 14, 2019| access-date=February 14, 2019| archive-date=February 15, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215050558/https://www.forbes.com/profile/stephen-mandel-jr/#32c116d151b7| url-status=live}} lawyer Bradley Palmer;{{Cite news|url=http://boxford.wickedlocal.com/article/20150716/NEWS/150717807|title='Bradley Palmer, The Man Himself' tour on Friday mornings in Topsfield|first=Alison|last=D'Amaro|work=Tri|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408075614/http://boxford.wickedlocal.com/article/20150716/NEWS/150717807|url-status=live}} entrepreneur and presidential candidate Andrew Yang,{{Cite web|url=https://www.yang2020.com/blog/andrew-yang-keynote-at-phillips-exeter-academy-in-new-hampshire-full-text/|title=Andrew Yang Keynote at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire (Full Text)|date=2019-02-08|website=Andrew Yang for President|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-12|archive-date=April 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412034422/https://www.yang2020.com/blog/andrew-yang-keynote-at-phillips-exeter-academy-in-new-hampshire-full-text/|url-status=live}} journalist Drew Pearson,{{Cite web|url=https://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/p/pearson_d.htm|title=Drew Pearson Papers An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University|website=library.syr.edu|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073532/https://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/p/pearson_d.htm|url-status=live}} Dwight Macdonald,{{Cite news|url=http://observer.com/2006/03/from-trotsky-to-midcult-in-search-of-dwight-macdonald/|title=From Trotsky to Midcult: In Search of Dwight Macdonald|date=March 27, 2006|work=Observer|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073856/http://observer.com/2006/03/from-trotsky-to-midcult-in-search-of-dwight-macdonald/|url-status=live}} producer and entrepreneur Lauren Selig, James F. Hoge, Jr.,{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1965959/bio|title=Jim Hoge|website=IMDb|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410083616/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1965959/bio|url-status=live}} Paul Klebnikov,{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jul/16/guardianobituaries.pressandpublishing|title=Obituary: Paul Klebnikov|last1=Wheeler|first1=Carolynne|last2=Reed|first2=Christopher|date=July 15, 2004|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408205900/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jul/16/guardianobituaries.pressandpublishing|url-status=live}} Trish Regan,{{Cite news|url=http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20090411/news/904110324|title=PEA hosts graduate and CNBC's Trish Regan|last=Johnson|first=Tara|work=seacoastonline.com|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073749/http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20090411/news/904110324|url-status=live}} Suzy Welch,{{Cite news|url=http://people.com/archive/new-wife-new-life-vol-63-no-15/|title=New Wife, New Life|work=people.com|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073741/http://people.com/archive/new-wife-new-life-vol-63-no-15/|url-status=live}} and Sarah Lyall;{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6_RAAoUrZx8C&pg=PA291|title=The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British|last=Lyall|first=Sarah|date=2009|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-33476-0|page=291|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418132502/https://books.google.com/books?id=6_RAAoUrZx8C&pg=PA291|url-status=live}} actors Michael Cerveris,{{Cite news|url=http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/michael-cerveris-0/|title=Michael Cerveris {{!}} The Official Masterworks Broadway Site|work=The Official Masterworks Broadway Site|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073628/http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/michael-cerveris-0/|url-status=live}} Catherine Disher,{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0228324/|title=Catherine Disher|website=IMDb|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=March 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322175127/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0228324/|url-status=live}} Jack Gilpin,{{Cite web|url=https://archives.rep-am.com/2012/12/30/actor-turns-from-casting-calls-to-a-higher-calling/|title=Actor turns from casting calls to a higher calling {{!}} Archives|website=archives.rep-am.com|date=December 30, 2012 |language=en-US|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073617/https://archives.rep-am.com/2012/12/30/actor-turns-from-casting-calls-to-a-higher-calling/|url-status=live}} and Alessandro Nivola;{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4724577/Charmer-chameleon.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4724577/Charmer-chameleon.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Charmer chameleon|journal=Daily Telegraph|last=Huck|first=Peter|date=July 13, 2001|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}} film director Howard Hawks;{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/12/28/hollywood-director-howard-hawks-dies/53c2ef09-4fd6-4b63-a1f8-bfbb19d59920/|title=Hollywood Director Howard Hawks Dies|last=Arnold|first=Gary|date=December 28, 1977|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408075049/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/12/28/hollywood-director-howard-hawks-dies/53c2ef09-4fd6-4b63-a1f8-bfbb19d59920/|url-status=live}} musicians Phil Wilson,{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/phil-wilson-mn0000340798/biography |title=Phil Wilson Biography, Songs, & Albums |website=AllMusic |access-date=July 26, 2021 |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107120423/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/phil-wilson-mn0000340798/biography |url-status=live }} Bill Keith,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/arts/music/bill-keith-who-transformed-banjo-playing-dies-at-75.html|title=Bill Keith, Who Uncovered Banjo's Melodic Potential, Dies at 75|last=Friskics-Warren|first=Bill|date=October 26, 2015|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215100856/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/arts/music/bill-keith-who-transformed-banjo-playing-dies-at-75.html|url-status=live}} Benmont Tench,{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2017/07/13/petty-and-heartbreakers-love-affair-with-boston-has-lasted-forever/VRapj4Y6YK1Mt4Jrwpg3NI/story.html|title=Petty and the Heartbreakers' love affair with Boston has lasted forever|work=BostonGlobe.com|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141439/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2017/07/13/petty-and-heartbreakers-love-affair-with-boston-has-lasted-forever/VRapj4Y6YK1Mt4Jrwpg3NI/story.html|url-status=live}} China Forbes,{{Cite web|url=http://exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/alumni_profiles/forbes_88.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040537/http://exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/alumni_profiles/forbes_88.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2016|title=The Exeter Bulletin Online|date=March 4, 2016|access-date=April 7, 2018}} Ketch Secor,{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-ketch-secor-started-wild-roots-band-old-crow-medicine-show-20140721|title=How Ketch Secor Started Wild Roots Band Old Crow Medicine Show|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073946/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-ketch-secor-started-wild-roots-band-old-crow-medicine-show-20140721|url-status=live}} Win Butler{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/14585/index2.html|title=Intelligencer: September 26 – October 3, 2005|website=NYMag.com|date=September 23, 2005 |access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=June 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625213614/http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/14585/index2.html|url-status=live}} and William Butler;{{Cite web|url=http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/winter2012/feature/all-fired-up_print.html|title=All Fired Up: Northwestern Magazine - Northwestern University|website=www.northwestern.edu|access-date=February 20, 2018|archive-date=June 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030146/https://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/winter2012/feature/all-fired-up_print.html|url-status=live}} historians Robert Cowley,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/25/archives/edith-p-lorillard-wed-to-robert-cowley.html|title=Edith P. Lorillard Wed to Robert Cowley.|date=June 25, 1978|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073747/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/25/archives/edith-p-lorillard-wed-to-robert-cowley.html|url-status=live}} Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/washington/01schlesinger.html|title=Arthur Schlesinger, Historian of Power, Dies at 89|last=Martin|first=Douglas|date=March 1, 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408075603/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/washington/01schlesinger.html|url-status=live}} and Brooks D. Simpson;{{Cite news|url=https://issuu.com/exeterbulletin/docs/winter12bulletin/23|title=The Exeter Bulletin, winter 2012|work=Issuu|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806070753/https://issuu.com/exeterbulletin/docs/winter12bulletin/23|url-status=live}} writers Roxane Gay{{cite news|url=http://bombmagazine.org/article/10067/roxane-gay,|title=Roxane Gay|author=John Freeman|date=Summer 2014|newspaper=Bomb|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304202503/http://bombmagazine.org/article/10067/roxane-gay,|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead}} and Joyce Maynard;{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/02/11/joyce-maynard-bounces-back-with-another-chapter/|title=Joyce Maynard Bounces Back With Another Chapter|work=tribunedigital-chicagotribune|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141253/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-02-11/features/9201130601_1_autobiographical-columns-joyce-maynard-yale-freshman|url-status=live}} screenwriters Tom Whedon{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jhECBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11|title=Joss Whedon: The Biography|last=Pascale|first=Amy|date=August 1, 2014|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-61374-104-7|page=11|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418135852/https://books.google.com/books?id=jhECBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11|url-status=live}} and Tom Mankiewicz;{{cite book |last1=Mankiewicz |first1=Tom |title=My Life as a Mankiewicz: An Insider's Journey through Hollywood |date=May 14, 2012 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0813161235 |page=37}} baseball players Robert Rolfe{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f388510d|title=Red Rolfe {{!}} Society for American Baseball Research|website=sabr.org|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408141319/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f388510d|url-status=live}} and Sam Fuld;{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhmagazine.com/July-2011/Super-Sam-Sam-Fuld/|title=Super Sam - Sam Fuld - New Hampshire Magazine - July 2011|website=www.nhmagazine.com|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|date=July 2011|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073803/http://www.nhmagazine.com/July-2011/Super-Sam-Sam-Fuld/|url-status=live}} educators Claudine Gay,{{Cite web |date=2023-07-02 |title=The Scholar Everyone Sought: Claudine Gay, Harvard's Next President {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/1/27/claudine-gay-presidential-profile/ |access-date=2023-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702132518/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/1/27/claudine-gay-presidential-profile/ |archive-date=2023-07-02 }} Jared Sparks{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZoaAQAAIAAJ|title=The Life and Writings of Jared Sparks: Comprising Selections from His Journals and Correspondence|last=Adams|first=Herbert Baxter|date=1970|publisher=Books for Libraries Press|isbn=9780836953671|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418132503/https://books.google.com/books?id=TZoaAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}} and Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.;{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/10/us/yale-said-to-pick-benno-schmidt-as-president.html|title=Yale Said to Pick Benno Schmidt as President|work=The New York Times |date=December 10, 1985 |access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073719/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/10/us/yale-said-to-pick-benno-schmidt-as-president.html|url-status=live}} composer Adam Guettel;{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002284517|title=Guettel, Adam {{!}} Grove Music|language=en|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2284517|access-date=April 7, 2018|year=2015|last1=Warfield|first1=Scott|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0|journal=|archive-date=May 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501230604/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002284517|url-status=live}} musician and podcaster Hrishikesh Hirway, humorist Greg Daniels;{{Cite news|url=https://exeter.edu/news/exeter-explorations-2014-bringing-new-perspectives-back-campus|title=Exeter Explorations: Bringing New Perspectives Back to Campus|work=Phillips Exeter Academy|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408074022/https://exeter.edu/news/exeter-explorations-2014-bringing-new-perspectives-back-campus|url-status=live}} mathematicians Shinichi Mochizuki,{{Cite news|url=http://projectwordsworth.com/the-paradox-of-the-proof/|title=The Paradox of the Proof|date=May 5, 2013|work=Project Wordsworth|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=August 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807005839/http://projectwordsworth.com/the-paradox-of-the-proof/|url-status=usurped}} David Mumford,{{Cite web|url=http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=51&threeid=63&fourid=107&fiveid=24|title=The Shaw Prize – Top prizes for astronomy, life science and mathematics|website=www.shawprize.org|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=November 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129131005/http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=51&threeid=63&fourid=107&fiveid=24|url-status=live}} and Lloyd Shapley, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in economics;{{Cite web|url=https://www.informs.org/Explore/History-of-O.R.-Excellence/Biographical-Profiles/Shapley-Lloyd-S.|title=Shapley, Lloyd S.|website=INFORMS|language=en-US|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-date=November 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129134310/https://www.informs.org/Explore/History-of-O.R.-Excellence/Biographical-Profiles/Shapley-Lloyd-S.|url-status=live}} economist Paul Romer, winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in economics,{{Cite news|url=https://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/10/08/nobel-prize-economics-william-nordhaus-paul-romer-mit-phillips-exeter-academy/|title=2 Researchers With MIT Ties Win Nobel Prize for Economics|date=October 8, 2018|access-date=October 8, 2018|language=en|archive-date=October 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008182856/https://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/10/08/nobel-prize-economics-william-nordhaus-paul-romer-mit-phillips-exeter-academy/|url-status=live}} computer scientists Adam D'Angelo and Andrew Boova (co-founders of Quora);{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/adam-dangelo/|title=Adam D'Angelo|work=Forbes|access-date=April 7, 2018|language=en|archive-date=July 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721125826/http://www.forbes.com/profile/adam-dangelo/|url-status=live}} and philosopher Daniel Dennett.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newphilosopher.com/articles/the-secret-of-consciousness-with-daniel-c-dennett/|title=The secret of consciousness, with Daniel C. Dennett |website=www.newphilosopher.com|language=en|access-date=April 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010054115/http://www.newphilosopher.com/articles/the-secret-of-consciousness-with-daniel-c-dennett/|archive-date=October 10, 2018|url-status=dead}}

File:Mathew Brady - Franklin Pierce - alternate crop.jpg|Franklin Pierce

File:Daniel Webster.jpg|Daniel Webster

File:Mark Zuckerberg F8 2019 Keynote (32830578717) (cropped).jpg|Mark Zuckerberg

File:Andrew Yang by Gage Skidmore.jpg|Andrew Yang

File:Howard Hawks head shot.jpg|Howard Hawks

File:Gore Vidal Shankbone 2009 NYC.jpg|Gore Vidal

File:Portrait of Booth Tarkington.jpg|Booth Tarkington

File:Robert Todd Lincoln - Harris and Ewing.jpg|Robert Todd Lincoln

File:Tom Steyer by Gage Skidmore.jpg|Tom Steyer

File:Roxane gay 9134940.JPG|Roxane Gay

File:George Plimpton (cropped).jpg|George Plimpton

File:Stockton Rush (cropped 2).png|Stockton Rush

Each summer, Phillips Exeter hosts over 780 students from various schools for a five-week program of academic study. The summer program accommodates a diverse student body typically derived from over 40 different states and 45 foreign countries.{{cite web| title=Phillips Exeter Academy {{!}} Summer School| url=http://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/7324.aspx| access-date=January 7, 2013| archive-date=November 25, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125160935/https://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/7324.aspx| url-status=live}}

Exeter's summer school is divided into two programs of study: Upper School, which offers a wide variety of classes to students currently enrolled in high school who are entering grades ten through 12 as well as serving postgraduates; and Access Exeter, a program for students entering grades eight and nine, which offers accelerated study in the arts, sciences and writing as well as serving as an introduction to the school itself. Access Exeter curriculum consists of six academic clusters; each cluster consists of three courses organized around a focused central theme. Some of Exeter's summer school programs also give students the opportunity to experience studies outside of Exeter's campus environment, including interactions with other top schools and students, experience with Washington D.C., and travel abroad.{{cite web|title=Phillips Exeter Academy {{!}} Academic Programs|url=http://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/7324_7416.aspx|access-date=January 7, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116051529/http://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/7324_7416.aspx|archive-date=January 16, 2013}}

The academy offers a number of workshops and conferences for secondary school educators. These include the Exeter Math Institute; the Exeter Humanities Institute; the Math, Science and Technology Conference; the Exeter Astronomy Conference; and the Shakespeare Conference.{{cite web|title=Summer Programs |url=http://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/88.aspx |access-date=November 12, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220074005/http://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/88.aspx |archive-date=December 20, 2008 }}

The "On Beyond Exeter" program offers one-week seminars for alumni. Most courses are held at the academy, but some meet in the locations central to the course's topic.

In 1952, Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, Harvard, Princeton and Yale published the study General Education in School and College: A Committee Report. The report recommended examinations that would place students after admission to college. This program evolved into the Advanced Placement Program.{{cite web| title = The Liberal Arts in School and College| author = Stanley N. Katz| url = http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i27/27b04601.htm| website = Chronicle.com| access-date = November 12, 2017| archive-date = July 10, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090710130805/http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i27/27b04601.htm| url-status = live}}{{cite web| title = A Brief History of the Advanced Placement Program| url = http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/ap/ap_history_english.pdf| website = Collegeboard.com| access-date = November 12, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090205075824/http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/ap/ap_history_english.pdf| archive-date = February 5, 2009| url-status = dead| df = mdy-all}}

In 1965 Exeter became the second charter member (after Andover) of the School Year Abroad program.{{cite web| title = A Brief History: Where did we come from?| url = http://www.sya.org/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=22&pagename=A%20Brief%20History%20of%20SYA| website = Sya.org| access-date = November 12, 2017| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090728204959/http://www.sya.org/pages/sitepage.cfm?id=22&pagename=A%20Brief%20History%20of%20SYA| archive-date = July 28, 2009| df = mdy-all}} The program allows students to reside and study a foreign language abroad.

Several works are based on Exeter and portray the lives of its students. Many are written by alumni who disguise Exeter's name, but not its character, such as John Knowles '45's novel A Separate Peace, and John Irving '61's A Prayer for Owen Meany.

{{Portal|Schools|New Hampshire}}

• Exeter point

{{Reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist}}

• Cookson, Peter W., Jr., and Caroline Hodges Persell. Preparing for Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools (Basic Books, 1985) [https://books.google.com/books?id=LMo1jbNuUMoC online]

• McLachlan, James. American Boarding Schools: A Historical Study (1970) [https://archive.org/details/americanboarding0000mcla online]

• {{citation |editor=Monroe, Paul |via=HathiTrust |title= Cyclopedia of Education |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1913 |chapter=Phillips Academy, Exeter, N.H. |volume=4 |hdl=2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t1vd73q7n }}

{{Commons category}}

{{Americana Poster|Phillips (Exeter) Academy}}

• [http://www.exeter.edu/ Phillips Exeter Academy]
• [http://www.exetercrew.com/ Phillips Exeter Academy Crew]
• [https://ghostarchive.org/archive/n2gSK?kreymer=true Donald Hall talking about Phillips Exeter Academy]. Archived at Ghostarchive on 2021-12-30. Additionally archived at [https://archive.today/20130209041828/http://www.webofstories.com/people/donald.hall/13 archive.today]

{{Phillips Exeter Academy}}

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{{A Separate Peace}}

{{New England Preparatory School Athletic Council}}

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Category:Boarding schools in New Hampshire

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Category:1781 establishments in New Hampshire

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Category:Exeter, New Hampshire

Category:Phillips family (New England)

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