For the 40 percent of Penn students currently receiving financial aid, recent improvements to the program may have cracked open a few more doors.
Phase one of the latest financial aid expansion is set to kick in for the 2008-2009 academic year and will benefit approximately 2,600 students, according to University estimates.
According to Financial Aid Director Bill Schilling, about 1,300 to 1,400 students will upgrade to no-loan aid packages and another 1,200 to 1,300 will be able to reduce their loan debt by 10 percent.
"The long-term impact will be reduced debt, or none at all, at the end of their undergraduate career," Schilling said, commenting on the effects of the latest announcement.
With less debt to look forward to upon graduation, students on financial aid say things are looking brighter.
College sophomore Irina Kotchach is currently on an aid package including loans but will most likely switch to a loan-free package before 2009.
"If I do graduate with a whole bunch of loans, I may have to work to pay them off," Kotchach said. "Without loans, I may be able to go straight to grad school."
Like others interviewed, Kotchach said she made an appointment with her financial aid advisor to discuss what she can expect as a result of the recent change.
Schilling said this was a key benefit of the expansion, since graduate school is typically more expensive than undergraduate.
College senior Loren Voss saw the benefits of a similar expansion announced last March - all students in families in the under $60,000 income bracket were offered loan-free packages.
Voss fell into this bracket and was switched to a loan-free package for her senior year - though she still owes $20,000 as a result of loans from her first 3 years.
"I'm just lucky that's all I owe," she said. "I would have loved to have seen this happen earlier since getting a job and having to pay back [loans] is kind of a big deal."
Schilling said that graduating debt free may even affect which careers students decide to pursue.
"The lower debt may enable some graduates to elect lower-paying public service careers they might otherwise feel they couldn't afford," he said.
While students are welcoming the reduction of loans in their financial aid packages, some wonder how the University plans to finance its promise.
According to a press release, the initiative will be funded by endowment growth resulting from the capital campaign launched earlier this fall.
Though Schilling said that there is a possibility this growth may not reach as high as projected, added that the University has "built in contingencies that make us satisfied that the risk is manageable."
