How the Quaker Commitment empowered one student to create her path at Penn

Gabrielle Fine, a fourth year from Long Island, New York, comes from a family steeped in real estate careers.

Her father? A mortgage banker. Her mother? A real estate agent. Her brother? A real estate lawyer.

Fine, however, had a different vision for herself. 

“I knew since high school that I was really passionate about climate change, so I knew I wanted to do something in that realm,” she says. 

That journey began when a ninth-grade high school teacher inspired her to research the human impact on climate change for a science fair. Fine says the project opened her eyes to a future in social impact. 

She remembers thinking, “I can’t not do anything about this.”

Fine later combined her interest in climate change with involvement in a high school business club. When it came time to apply to universities, she was eager to find a program that went beyond traditional environmental studies. She was also keen to enroll in one that offered value—that offered an “asset,” she says, for later finding a job. 

She found that fit in Wharton’s School’s Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors for Business program, which blended her passion for the environment and interest in nature with a business degree. She complemented that with minors in environmental studies and French and Francophone studies—the latter inspired by her goal of matching her mother’s French-speaking abilities. Fine was able to shape an interdisciplinary experience and, according to her, create her own way forward. 

At a place like Penn “it’s easy to think that you’re behind; you feel like you see other people doing incredible things, which motivates you, but also it can be stressful,” she says. “And I learned it’s OK to have your own path.”

Driven by ambition, supported by financial aid

Fine, too, is candid about what made this journey possible.

“Without the financial aid, I wouldn’t be here,” says Fine. Financial barriers were never an obstacle for her to attend Penn. “I’m very grateful to say that,” she adds.

Fine is one of hundreds of undergraduates from middle-income families who have benefited from expanded financial aid following significant changes to Penn’s need-based financial aid policies, enacted in fall 2025. The Quaker Commitment, an initiative designed to lower costs for lower- and middle-income families, expanded eligibility so that students from families with typical assets earning $200,000 or less can attend Penn with, at minimum, full tuition coverage. It also eliminated, in most cases, primary home equity from the aid assessment process. Under the expansion, 65% of aided students now receive aid above the level of tuition. 

“Penn took a leadership position with the Quaker Commitment because we believe every talented student, regardless of where their family falls on the income spectrum, should have access to a Penn education,” says Mark Dingfield, Penn’s executive vice president, and one of the architects of the Quaker Commitment. “For too many prospective students, especially those from middle-income families, Penn feels out of reach before they ever consider applying. Changing that has always been at the heart of the Quaker Commitment. With Penn Forward, we are advancing that effort, and I’m excited to keep building on what we’re already delivering.” 

The Quaker Commitment continues to evolve as part of Penn Forward, with ambition to redesign financial aid in a way that simplifies costs and presents clear, predictable pricing.

At Penn, Fine has also benefited from the named scholarships program. She says she is especially proud of the relationship she’s built with one of her scholarship donors, who has helped to expand Fine’s network as she pursues a career in sustainability consulting after graduation. She recalls her delight at meeting the donor in person when she visited New York in April. 

A Penn experience

Fine has engaged with an almost dizzying number of programs and groups since starting at Penn: She’s a sorority member of Sigma Kappa, has been a longtime member of Wharton Undergraduate Cohorts, and has led Kite & Key tours of campus for prospective students and their families since her first year.  

In 2025, Fine traveled to Lyon, France, as part of Penn Abroad to hone her French-speaking skills, also taking a sustainability class while there in the College of Arts & Sciences about the economic theory of de-growth and generally “learn[ing] about my own culture and identity,” she says.

“I like to say I’m the least Wharton person in Wharton,” she laughs, noting that she’s taken an unusual number of courses in the College because of her minors. “… I’m really glad I’ve been able to branch out and meet people through classes in other schools.”

Having recently conducted her final Kite & Key tour, Fine reflected that the tours have offered her a space for mentorship with potential students, built her appreciation for the school, and, more simply, humbled her at every step. 

“There are all these people who would love to be in the position I’m speaking in right now, so it’s a very rewarding experience,” Fine says. “I love it here, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”