Undergrad financial aid up 9%

As the economic recession persists, Penn is devoting more of its budget to financial aid, according to Vice President of Budget and Management Analysis Bonnie Gibson.

Out of all the members of the class of 2014 who applied for financial aid, 80 percent received need-based assistance — the same percentage as last year’s incoming class. However, as more people have applied for aid, more packages have been granted, according to Director of Student Financial Services Bill Schilling.

For undergraduate aid as a whole, there has been a 9-percent increase in students receiving financial aid packages since last school year — up from 3,850 students to 4,223 students.

Though these numbers will change slightly by the end of the academic year, Penn remains “very much in the game,” Schilling said.

The average grant to an eligible freshman is currently around $37,000. Though Penn has the lowest per-capita endowment in the Ivy League, Penn is “at the top” in terms of aid, Schilling said. Yale University’s average grant this year is $35,700, and Harvard University’s is $40,000.

About 55 percent of incoming Penn freshmen received some sort of financial assistance. Penn alone provided packages for nearly 44 percent of those students, while the remaining money came from federal direct loans or outside scholarships.

Schilling noted that increased need for financial aid was neither dramatic nor unexpected. He attributes growth to the poor economy, recruitment efforts to expand socioeconomic diversity, as well as the heightened cost of attendance. Penn’s total fees — tuition plus room and board — surpassed $50,000 for the first time this academic year.

“We generally maintain some reserves because we know that need from one year to the next can be volatile,” Schilling said.

Penn has taken the recession into consideration when creating the budget, Gibson confirmed.

“Financial aid is one of our highest priorities,” she said. “When there’s any growth in revenue, financial aid gets one of the first claims.”

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