Navigating Finances

Penn is committed to ensuring that every undergraduate student’s financial aid package meets the gap between the cost of attendance (including tuition and fees) and the Expected Family Contribution calculated by the Federal government with university scholarships and grants. There are many opportunities to which a Penn education opens a door, and Penn offers a myriad of resources to make those opportunities – some of which have accompanying costs – accessible to our students.

Budgeting Resources

The Financial Wellness Program at Penn provides an initial overview of budgeting basics on their website. Lyndsi Burcham, C’19, is Penn’s Financial Wellness Program Manager. Lyndsi, Student Registration and Financial Services, and Penn First Plus will be offering more opportunities to engage in discussions about financial wellness at Penn. You are welcome to contact Lyndsi at burcham@upenn.edu or Penn First Plus at pennfirstplus@upenn.edu to schedule a time to learn more about budgeting your financial aid award and other forms of financial wellness.

Financial Aid Hot Topics

If you have been notified of being selected for federal verification, Student Registration and Financial Services provides guidance on next steps.

  • Benefits Available to Highly Aided Students
    If you are a highly aided student, Student Registration and Financial Services (SRFS) provides an outline of all benefits available on their website. For funding questions that fall outside their programs, you are welcome to meet with a Penn First Plus staff member by contacting pennfirstplus@upenn.edu.
  • Highly Aided Meal Break Program
    Because our dining facilities close during specific times of the year, Student Registration and Financial Services provides a stipend to cover these periods of time. Visit the SRFS website for more information about this program.

On-Campus Employment

  • Work-study
    Work study is a program that guarantees a certain amount of paid work for students who decide to take on a part-time job. Such work can be at Penn, or someplace in the local community. Although you may opt to have these funds converted to loans, you are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this funding, as it provides a guaranteed source of income for miscellaneous expenses while you are in Philadelphia. These positions also allow you to build connections in Philadelphia for future work, and/or support in your experience as a student.
  • Non-Work-study
    There are also a number of positions (both on- and off-campus) that are advertised through the Student Employment website that do not require work study funding and for which all students – regardless of financial need or country of citizenship are eligible. All students are limited to working 20 hours on-campus.
  • Both work-study and non-work study positions may be found using the Student Employment Job Search tool.

Textbooks & Course-Related Expenses

Funding for textbooks and course supplies is accounted for in your Penn financial aid package (see “Understanding Cost of Attendance”). Supplemental funding for these items is thus not available. However, additional support may be available through  Penn Libraries and your course instructor (read below for more information).

For Penn undergraduate students, the budget for Books and Supplies is $1,412 per academic year ($706 per Fall and Spring Semester). For the typical student (taking 4-5 courses per term) this budget works out to between $141 and $176 per class. The budget for School of Nursing first-year students and Wharton School second, third, and fourth-year students is slightly higher (see “Books and Supplies” under “2025-2026 Academic Year”).

  • Students expecting an aid refund that would support their course materials expenses may expect that refund to take place as early as 10 days prior to the start of classes.
  • If you are a student on aid but do not qualify for an aid refund, your Work Study award and/or Expected Family Contribution should be used to cover these expenses.
  • Where the arrival of financial aid or familial support is taking longer than expected, books listed at the Penn Bookstore may be purchased using a line of credit, which can then be repaid with aid or other funds.
  • If you believe that your required expenses will exceed your budgeted aid, please be sure to save all syllabi and receipts and reach out to Financial Aid or Penn First Plus to inquire as to the potential for a re-evaluation.

Line of Credit

Penn Student Registration and Financial Services (SRFS) offers a $1,000 line of credit that lets Penn students charge select on-campus purchases to their student account using their PennCard. You can use this line of credit at several on-campus locations including the University Bookstore, Penn Retail Dining, and Transfers to PennCash. Course textbooks and supplies available at the University Bookstore (3601 Walnut Street) can be purchased using the SRFS line of credit.

When you make purchases using the SRFS line of credit, they will be posted to your student account and reflected on your next monthly statement. All charges must be paid in full by the billing statement due date. Students are responsible for paying their balance, as funding for expenses charged to the SRFS line of credit is not available through Penn First Plus or the Penn Emergency and Opportunity Fund.

Free Access through Penn Libraries

Penn Libraries can support your academic journey with free access to a wealth of books, journals, digital materials, and cultural artifacts that drive research and scholarship at Penn and beyond. You can search the Penn Libraries Catalogue for resources that are available online and in-person at the university’s 23 Penn Libraries locations and 6 affiliated libraries.

Select books not available through Penn Libraries may be available instead through Course Reserves, BorrowDirect, E-ZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan.

  • Course Reserves: The Penn Libraries’ Course Reserves service allows instructors to set aside books, films, or sound recordings for class use, or to make articles or book excerpts available electronically through Canvas. Reserve lists typically include required and recommended course readings, making these materials free for students to borrow for a short period of time.
  • If the material you need is not available through Penn Libraries, as a Penn student, you have access to:
    • BorrowDirect: Request books directly from top universities like Brown, Columbia, Harvard, and more.
    • E-ZBorrow: Access books from over 70 academic libraries across Pennsylvania and nearby states.
    • Interlibrary Loan: Request materials not available at Penn, expanding your research options with resources from other libraries.

Explore more at Penn Libraries to enrich your studies and research!

MUSC 0050 Lessons for Credit (0.5 cu)

Highly Aided students may qualify for a one-time subsidy to support enrollment in “Lessons for Credit” (MUSC 0050, 0.5 cu). Students can apply for support from Penn First Plus through the Penn Emergency and Opportunity Fund. Eligible students approved for support will receive up to $390, or 60% of the MUSC 0050 course fee ($650 total). Students will be responsible for the remaining 40%, or $260, of the total course fee.

Unexpected Costs, Emergencies, & Opportunities

Because we lead complex, human lives, there are some expenses that might arise during your time as a Penn undergraduate that are not accounted for in your financial aid award. Subsequently, should you encounter financial need that exceeds your financial aid budget, we encourage you to submit a funding request through the Emergency and Opportunity Fund.

Requests are reviewed weekly, and typically involve a meeting with a member of the Student Intervention Services, Penn First Plus, and/or the Student Registration and Financial Services team to learn more about the various expenses impacting your experience at Penn.

Typically, funds are granted for unique academic and professional opportunities that exceed available funding awards from Penn, or for emergencies related to personal health and family matters. While there is no limit on the amount of funding a student can request or how often they can apply, typical awards are for one-time needs. Needs in excess of $1,000 or for ongoing concerns involve advising and supporting the student through sustainable means.

Emergency and Opportunity Fund Application

With gratitude to the Goldman Sachs Gives / Ashish and Sapna Shah Penn First Plus Career Launch Fund, P1P is able to support students seeking opportunities to enhance their future careers in in the fields of consulting, banking, marketing, and technology. For more information about the opportunities available, please visit the application below.

Career Launch Fund

Housing

On-Campus

CHAS Tiers/Costs

Typically, on-campus housing offers a variety of single- and double-occupancy rooms as well as suites or apartments with dedicated kitchens at both price tiers. However, students receiving financial aid should be aware that their package is calculated based on the lower price tier. The additional funds for the upper-tier housing will impact their available funding for food and school-related supplies. Subsequently housing should be chosen with a plan in place for adequately funding food costs for the academic year.

Off-Campus

Expected Costs & distance from Penn

  • Rent
    Penn’s financial aid package includes sufficient funding to cover nine months of rent and utilities (academic year-only) within a 30-mile radius of campus. This means that a student should budget to spend no more than $1,000 a month on rent and utilities using their financial aid.
  • Food
    Penn’s financial aid package reduces the expected cost of dining to account the lower cost of cooking for one’s self, while still allowing a student to opt into the 2-meal-per-day meal plan.
  • Moving Costs
    Unfortunately, Penn is not able to advance students’ financial aid to cover the costs associated with moving off-campus. As you evaluate your preparedness to move off-campus, you should be prepared to budget for:

    • Application Fees
    • Security deposits (to hold the apartment while your application is reviewed and as insurance against any damage the space might incur)
    • First and/or last month’s rent
    • Utilities
    • Furniture
    • Kitchen and other household equipment
  • Transportation
    As you consider where to live, also factor in increased transportation costs, if you end up renting in an area that requires use of public transportation, paid parking, or more than the occasional trip home via a taxicab or ride share service.

Role of financial aid

Financial aid at Penn is designed to meet the typical costs associated with attendance – including the basic costs of living on-campus or off-campus. Costs that exceed those estimates based on university pricing or market research require additional contributions or budgeting creativity by the student.

Dining

Meal Plans

Generally speaking, it is in the best interest of all students to participate in some variety of meal plan during the academic year, and Penn’s financial aid budget includes a full meal plan for students living on-campus and a self-catering budget for students living off-campus. Meal plans guarantee the ability to visit a campus dining location without the need for cash or a bank card, which is useful when you might not have time to cook for yourself or locate less expensive, yet quickly served food options close to campus. First-year students are encouraged to select the full meal plan, which maximizes the value of the meal plans available.

Community Kitchens

The Greenfield Intercultural Center, Penn Womens Center, and LGBT Center maintain small stocks of food items and condiments in their community kitchens. Please note that these are not food pantries, and students experiencing chronic food insecurity should consult with a member of the Student Intervention Services team about finding a sustainable solution.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Penn recognizes that students may – through a variety of circumstances – encounter challenges to remaining food secure. Your first steps should always include an application for Emergency Funding through the process above, or to visit your Financial Aid advisor to determine if Penn is able to award you additional funding for academic expenses not predicted in your award budget. In the immediate term, we can provide you with meal swipes, a food box delivery, and/or emergency funds. However, when the resources above are insufficient to meet your needs, you may qualify for state-facilitated food security programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The federal government maintains a benefits eligibility website which provide initial guidance. To apply directly to the State of Pennsylvania for assistance, you will need to visit their COMPASS website.

Health and Wellness

As you begin your studies at Penn, it is essential that you are adequately covered by a health insurance policy, as outlined in our requirements. These requirements are established so that you can be ensured a certain quality of care in the event of a physical or mental health concern that may impact your academic success. For students whose healthcare plan does not meet Penn’s requirements, you can enroll in Penn’s Student Insurance Plan. For students receiving financial aid, your award will be adjusted to cover the cost of a single student insurance plan.

Importance of Healthcare

Penn’s insurance requirements allow for healthcare that is both preventative and remedial in nature. That is – you should attend regular physicals, not hesitate to see a doctor if feeling unwell, and check in with a mental health professional if there is a lot on your mind or your emotions are distracting you from your work. These early measures prevent later crises that could prevent participation in classes or the completion of coursework and are often less costly than more serious cases. You can always contact Student Health Services to get an estimate of the out-of-pocket cost of an appointment or procedure. They are available via phone at: 215.746.3535. You will want to have your health insurance card with you.

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For International Students

Although some of this guidance applies to international students (with the exception of U.S. federal financial aid and assistance programs), international students are also subject to federal withholding tax on scholarship/grant aid that exceeds the cost of tuition, fees, and books. This would include funding for housing, dining, transportation, and personal expenses. To meet federal requirements, Penn withholds 14% of this excess, which may be returned to a student upon filing a tax return by April 15. Because each student’s financial aid package is different, you may wish to reference your award letter, subtracting the cost of tuition, fees, and books (estimated to be $72,648 for academic year ’25-‘26) from your grant, and applying the 14% rule to estimate how much will be withheld. Note: Do not include any private loans or work study funds in this calculation. More detailed information on the forms of financial aid available to international students can be retrieved from Student Registration and Financial Services.

For international students, we must note that there are restrictions on where (typically on-campus) and how often (less than 20 hours per week when classes are in-session) international students can work. Exceptions to these policies can be made in the event of a financial emergency. Please note that there are also specific eligibility requirements students must meet to be eligible for work authorization.