Penn offers Monthly Budget Plan as efficient way to pay educational costs

Student Financial Services makes it a priority to make the cost of a Penn education affordable to everyone. Penn’s Monthly Budget Plan is a smart and efficient way for any student to pay their educational expenses, interest-free.

Designed for families who prefer to pay all or most of the student’s educational expenses, the Monthly Budget Plan allows them to pay over a 10-month period. The plan is intended to help them form a budget that is feasible for their current financial situation.

The monthly payments to the plan start in May and end in February. It’s specifically for the academic year, for students enrolled in fall and spring courses. And the plan is not available for those enrolled in summer courses.

“Enrollment opens in March, to give them time to decide which budget they want to get as well as to see what type of aid or any other third party payments that are coming in for the students, to subtract what their costs would be,” Assistant Director of Student Accounts Gwen Randolph said.

The amount of students and families, undergraduate or graduate that opt into the Monthly Budget Plan has changed over the years.

“On the average, [the amount] goes down every year and I think the economy has a lot to do with that. Roughly averages about 100 less each year,” Director of Student Account Donald Manigly said. “There seems to be a constant flux going down.”

Normally, Student Accounts will send out two mailings. One of the mailings is for current students already participating in the Budget Plan. Then a second email goes out to the incoming students to introduce the whole plan to them. They make students aware of how the plan can offset some of their expenses up front.

Both emails provide links, what the enrollment cost would be and when families can start following the plan.

“We also include, as part of the incoming student package that goes out by SFS in April, a Budget Plan brochure,” Manigly said.

“And that goes out to all students, whether they are aid recipients or not. It goes out to the entire freshman class that’s admitted,” Director of Financial Aid Joel Carstens added.

The Student Accounts office gives families and students a guideline for what the base tuition would be, including housing, dining and other expenses. They ask families to take an overall view of the costs and try to break it down into 10 months.

Families must also take into consideration any other third party plans, whether it be aid or scholarships that may be coming in on the student’s behalf, so that they can subtract them from the actual cost in order to determine what the budget would look like.

“We give them a slew of information to help them make the decision as far as what they believe they need to budget,” Manigly said. “If they’re uncomfortable with making that decision, or cannot figure it out for themselves, then we direct them to SFS for some assistance.”

The amount budgeted will be divided equally, half for the fall semester and half for the spring semester as a temporary credit at first and then as an actual amount later on.

During the year, if they feel they may have budgeted too much or not enough, families or students can modify their budget later on. Randolph explains how unlimited changes can be made to the plan and that families and students have the liberty to cancel any time they want.

By visiting the online portal, students and families have the option to use the budgeting tool in order to help them make an easier decision and view payment options.

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