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 ASK
BENNY
Penn aids the people in the middle, too
Illustration by Bo Brown
Dear Benny,
I have been helping my son apply for financial aid to attend college
this fall. Penn’s Student Financial Services office tells me
that financial aid is need-based. A full-time student living on campus
needs $160,000 for four years at Penn. Are Ivy League schools limited
to rich and needy students only and not the middle class?
— Not Sure I Can Foot the Bill
Dear Worried,
Not at all, says Director of Student Financial Aid William Schilling
C’66, who notes that more than half of all Penn students receiving
financial aid come from families who earn $70,000 or more a year and
nearly 40 percent come from those earning $90,000 and up.
Of course, Schilling also points out that students from poorer families
will receive larger aid packages. But, he says, “The con-cept of
need is the difference between the $40,000 per year cost of attendance
and what we feel is a reasonable and equitable level of family support.” In
other words, go ahead and apply; if accepted, we will make sure you can
afford to attend, even if your family isn’t poor.
Dear Benny,
When I tried to get on a Shuttle van at David Rittenhouse Lab the other
night to go to 39th and Walnut, the driver refused to let me on, but
said I could take the PennBus. Why couldn’t I get on the van?
— Peeved Physics Ph.D. Student
Dear Peeved,
You were going from one campus location to another. Transportation Services
reserves the limited space on Shuttle vans for riders headed for off-campus
destinations. The PennBuses have plenty of seats and will drop you off
on any street corner on their routes.
Got a question for Benny? You can ask Benny about benefits,
worklife issues, University history or trivia, or other matters pertaining
to life at Penn. Send it via e-mail to current@pobox.upenn.edu or
via regular mail to the Current, 200 Sansom Place East, 3600
Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6106. A Current coffee
mug goes to those whose questions we publish
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