Penn's financial aid priorities

Just how affordable is a Penn education? The Class of 2009, much of which will be admitted next month, is about to find out firsthand what Penn families have known for some time: Being an Ivy Leaguer isn't cheap.

And as the cost for undergraduates continues to rise -- the University's educational expense budget for the current year is listed at $42,100 -- more attention should be paid to easing the burden for lower-income students.

Providing a quality education that is both affordable and accessible to anyone with deserving academic credentials is a massive challenge, but by no means is it rocket science.

Penn has gained some ground in making itself affordable to students of all backgrounds through need-based financial aid. The Admissions Office reports that nearly 60 percent of students receive some sort of aid, while 40 percent receive grants from the University. The average freshman receiving aid, they say, is awarded $26,300 -- a generous sum compared to what one might expect at a state school.

That number, however, can be deceiving. Of the $26,000, some is grant money, but a large portion is also financed through loans and work-study jobs. And let's not forget the other $16,000 that must be chipped in by the student and his or her family.

At many of Penn's peer institutions, the picture is brighter. Harvard, Princeton and Yale have leveraged their massive endowments to provide financial aid packages that are 100 percent grant money, leaving graduates without a large debt load looming over their heads.

The median family income in America is just over $43,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A freshman from that average household would receive an average financial aid package of $33,291 from Penn. What the Admissions Office doesn't say, though, is how much of that aid must be paid back.

If that same student were at Princeton or Yale, for example, he or she would receive a comfortable aid package and graduate with no debt.

What's more, families in inner cities -- a group of students President Amy Gutmann has been eagerly trying to draw to Penn -- earn a little more than $33,000 a year on average. With limited resources and a family to feed, it is easy to see why many parents would say Penn is out of reach financially.

Combating this reality is a major challenge facing the University, and Gutmann has shown that she wants to take it on.

What is yet to be seen, however, is a plan to get it done.

With Penn's endowment currently able to fund only 12 percent of financial aid demands, it will not be easy. It's been established that the money just isn't there right now. But it's time for an initiative -- even if it is only minor -- to send a message that the University is committed to making itself affordable to everyone.

Yale made a bold statement last week when it waived the financial burden for families that earn less than $45,000 a year.

Penn may not have the money in the bank to make an offer that rich, but if it wants to stay in competition for the best and brightest high school graduates, something must be done today, as the acceptance letters are being printed.

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