Want a rare look behind the scenes of the financial aid office at a top university to hear how it’s done, how they calculate your aid eligibility, look at your finances on using the FAFSA and CSS Profile, listen to unusual circumstances and award students financial aid dollars?
Search no more, here it is, an interview with Mr. Bill Schilling, the Director of Student Aid at the University of Pennsylvania, (one of the eight Ivy League schools).
In the video you are about to see, Mr. Schilling shares a national perspective on college aid that weaves through both public and private universities, the Ivies, the 568 President’s Group of colleges and most importantly, he offers specific answers that will help you understand the aid process and how colleges work with families to award financial aid dollars.
To get this kind of direction and insight from a man that has been at the helm of the University of Pennsylvania’s Student Aid Office for 41 years is invaluable, but Mr. Schilling is more than just the director of aid at an Ivy League University, he is a national expert on financial aid and he offers candid advice to families in a time when financial aid dollars are more highly sought than ever.
Schilling is an expert among college aid officials, and he also leads the work of the Technical Committee and the Need Analysis Council for the 568 President’s Group, an exclusive group of 26 private institutions that formed many years ago to reach consensus on a fair and equitable way to determine students’ ability to pay for college.
In today’s challenging economic conditions, families are in need of as much quality information on financial aid as they can get. No better than to hear it directly from the man at the top, and one who leads a team at Penn that, like a few other institutions, are leading the way to greater access and affordability to provide kids a great education at a fair price, without the onerous burden of thousands of dollars in student loans.
The interview is a little over 27 minutes long. Below is a list of the questions I asked Mr. Schilling, and where they can be found in the video.
Thank you, Mr. Schilling, and the University of Pennsylvania for your guidance.
0:00
Tell us a little about Penn and the aid forms you require.
1:46
How do colleges assess a student’s eligibility for aid? What’s the process and what do they look at?
3:14
What is the 568 President’s Group of colleges, and how do they calculate how much a student’s family should contribute toward college costs?
9:44
Do student’s aid awards stay the same from year-to-year?
12:08
What should families do if they have unusual circumstances related to their finances, employment or family situations?
14:03
When should families appeal a financial aid award, and how should they do it in a professional manner?
16:06
How does Penn’s aid pledge of no student loans help students plan ahead from an affordability standpoint?
17:28
What is tuition discounting? Does it help colleges fill seats at an affordable price, and is it a sustainable practice?
21:00
If Penn’s endowment takes a hit in the financial markets, will that affect your ability to continue your no-loan aid pledge?
23:01
What concerns do you see on the college aid horizon over the next few years?
forbes.com Jan 2012
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