Since it was launched in 2007, the University of Pennsylvania’s all-grant, no-loan financial aid program has provided access to an Ivy League education to 7,475 students from a range of social and economic backgrounds. With 10,300 undergraduates, Penn is the largest school in the nation to offer an all-grant, no-loan financial aid program for undergraduates.

Underlining this commitment is Penn’s $197 million financial aid budget for 2014-15 — the largest in the University’s history and 79 percent higher than it was in 2008 when the no-loan program was first offered. Prior to this year, between FY08 and FY14 Penn awarded $796,884,846 in grants as part of the no-loan program.

This is also the sixth consecutive year that undergraduate tuition growth has been kept below 4 percent. The financial aid package paired with the limit on tuition growth underscore Penn’s ongoing effort to reduce student indebtedness. The program has helped to reduce the number of students borrowing today by 11 percent from those borrowing in 2008.

Since Amy Gutmann became Penn’s president in 2004, Penn’s financial aid budget has grown by 150 percent, averaging 8.7 percent per year, almost double the average annual growth in total charges.

“Maintaining Penn’s all-grant, no-loan policy is one of our highest priorities,” Gutmann said. “We have never wavered from our commitment to ensure that talented, hardworking young people who seek an education at Penn can do so without fear of emerging with overwhelming debt. This year’s record-high financial aid budget demonstrates that we are as determined as ever to achieve this important institutional goal.”

Penn’s all-grant, no-loan financial aid initiative supports the University’s long-standing commitment to its need-blind admissions policy, which means students are accepted based on academic achievement, regardless of their ability to pay. It is also aligned with the inclusion goals outlined in Gutmann’s Penn Compact 2020.

Penn’s no-loan program is financed in large part from funds raised by the Making History campaign, which raised $4.3 billion. The campaign raised $366.3 million for undergraduate student aid, exceeding its goal of $350 million.  This spring the University announced its further commitment to raise an additional $240 million for the endowment to support undergraduate financial aid. 

Penn’s newest undergraduates, the Class of 2018, represent the latest recipients of the all-grant, no-loan aid program. Eighty-three percent of Class of 2018 financial aid applicants receive Penn grants with an average financial aid package for an incoming student in the Class of 2018 of $44,843 – up from $29,284 in 2008.

Penn has substituted grants for loans for all aid-eligible undergraduates since 2009.

This year 47 percent of Penn’s undergraduate students received need-based grants from the University. Most undergraduates from families with incomes of less than $180,000 receive grant assistance. The typical incoming student with an average family income of $75,000 or below receives grant aid that covers full tuition, room and board.

During the past several years, as increasing numbers of students have required financial assistance, Penn has maintained its commitment to meeting full need with all-grant, no-loan packages.

Penn is one of fewer than 50 private institutions in the United States that admit academically qualified students without regard to their families' ability to pay while also meeting the determined full need of all undergraduates.

Additional information on undergraduate financial aid at Penn is available at www.sfs.upenn.edu.