Bill Schilling, director of Student Financial Aid at the University of Pennsylvania since 1980, is available to comment on trends in student assistance nationally, including public policy issues under consideration in Washington.

"Financial aid is experiencing some difficult times," Schilling said.  "I, like many others in higher education, am concerned about what seems to be a lessening of a national commitment to need-based aid as a means of ensuring that talented students from all economic backgrounds have the opportunity for a four-year college education.

"There is substantial aid available for needy college-bound students, and it important for students and their families to understand that they should not rule out schools because of 'sticker price.'  A college that may appear to be unaffordable may not be, once aid is factored in."

Note to TV producers and assignment editors: The University of Pennsylvania has an on-campus television studio with satellite uplink, live-shot capability for interviews with Penn experts.