Finding Help on Campus: Financial Aid Office
Going to college means taking the first steps toward financial responsibility. Here are some folks who will catch you if you stumble
It doesn't hurt to ask.
The way Michael Brosnan, director of undergraduate financial aid counseling at the University of Pennsylvania, and his 47 colleagues determine how to distribute approximately $113 million in financial aid is anything but arbitrary, as U.S. News discovered when it took a peek behind the curtain one Wednesday in March.
8:45 a.m. As Brosnan does first thing every morning during admissions season, he flips through three plastic-bound daily progress reports. The reports summarize yesterday's activity, showing which applications have been uploaded into the office's computer and are ready to be reviewed by staff members; which applications have had documents, like tax returns, added to them and must be reviewed again; and which reviews have been completed.
The Board of Trustees has yet to announce how much it's going to cost to attend Penn in 2005-06. This means staff members haven't been able to officially determine any student's need. Since the most time-consuming aspect of the process is figuring out how much a family can afford to pay for college--Penn does this itself, rather than using the federal government's Estimated Family Contribution figure--the staff doesn't wait for the tuition to be finalized before starting the calculations. Once the tuition figure arrives--it's due tomorrow--the aid staff will run each case through a computer program that determines an applicant's eligibility for various loans, then fills in gaps with work-study, scholarships, and grants. About 60 percent of undergraduates receive aid, and roughly 40 percent of packages are loan free.
11 a.m. Behind the closed door of his windowless office, George Walker, an assistant director, or "AD," enters his third straight hour of reading freshman aid applications. While it takes an average of 20 minutes to review a file, more complicated cases--in which a student's parents are divorced or own a business--can stretch to 45 minutes.
As cases pop up on Walker's computer screen, a needs-analysis program automatically suggests a family contribution, and he looks for reasons to adjust that figure upward or downward. This year, for example, an early-decision candidate's father had a heart attack after the family submitted her application, and her mother sent a letter detailing how much lower their monthly income will be while he convalesces. The family's expected contribution was reduced.
3 p.m. The AD s' offices are lined up along two hallways that lead to Penn's Student Financial Services Counseling Center. With its two receptionists, electronic take-a-number system, and flat-screen TV s, the center is equipped to keep throngs of students moderately happy if they have to wait. Most students dropping by this week have received notices that their accounts are past due and are checking in to see how they can resolve the issue in time to preregister for next semester's classes. Others are calling to ask, "What kind of quick loans can I take out to cover what I owe?" "How do I get financial aid for summer courses?"
A tired-looking girl in a gray hoodie emerges from an AD's office. The student, a senior who asks not to be identified, has just talked to a counselor about paying off her tuition balance so she can graduate. She's been working 35 hours a week, which is more than the school expects or even knows about, but she says, "There's an assumed contribution that your parent can pay, and when they can't, you've got to do something." In spite of her efforts, she can't cover the bill by year's end. Her counselor is setting her up with an additional loan.
5 p.m. The receptionists bolt the doors at 5 o'clock on the dot, but many in the office stay on. "It is a rather arduous process," says Brosnan. "But I've been there as a parent. If your child has worked this hard and done that well, and you're going to be dependent on financial assistance to make his or her college dreams come true, I want to do everything we can to at least put things in perspective."
The following day, the Board of Trustees releases Penn's new charges for tuition, fees, and room and board. The total is $41,766.
This story appears in the April 18, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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