Total
Undergrad Charges 4.4 Percent Increase for 2004-2005
Total
undergraduate charges for tuition, fees, room and board
at Penn will increase 4.4 percent for the 2004-2005 academic
year from $37,960 in 2003-2004 to $39,634 in 2004-2005.
The
increase was approved last Thursday by the Board of Trustees.
Tuition
and general fees for undergraduate students for the 2004-2005
academic year will increase 4.8 percent, from $29,318 to
$30,716; average room and board charges will increase 3.2
percent, from $8,642 to $8,918, yielding an increase in
total charges of 4.4 percent.
Total
charges at Penn for the 2004-2005 academic year are in
line with those at other institutions in the Ivy League,
based on charges already announced at Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth
and Yale.
Penn
will continue to maintain its longstanding need-blind admissions
policy, which admits students based on academic achievement,
without regard for their ability to pay. For those students
who matriculate with a demonstrated financial need, Penn
creates financial aid packages that meet the full extent
of the students' need for a full four years.
The
University is projecting an increase of 8.2 percent in
its need-based undergraduate grants and scholarships in
the coming year.
Since
1997-1998, the percentage of the average freshman aid package
met by grants has increased from 67.7 percent to 78.3 percent,
while the average loan as a percentage of total aid has
declined from 22.9 percent to 11.5 percent. The average
freshman grant increased by 48 percent during this same
period.
Roughly
40 percent of the University's aided freshmen will have
their need met without any expected student loan.
Penn
will continue, for the fifth year, the Summer Savings Waiver
Program, which provides grants to offset the normal summer
self-help work contribution requirement of students who
participate in unpaid or low-paying community service or
career-related activity over the summer.
Penn's
resources are dedicated to achieving the goals of Building
on Excellence: The Leadership Agenda, the University's
guidelines for excellence through 2007.
These
include: