PHILADELPHIA -- Total undergraduate charges for tuition, fees, room and board at the University of Pennsylvania will increase 4.9 percent for the 2001-2002 academic year from $32,996 in 2000-2001 to $34,614 in 2001-2002. The increase was approved today by the Board of Trustees.

Tuition and fees for undergraduate students for the 2001-2002 academic year will increase 5.8 percent, from $25,170 to $26,630, and average residential charges will increase 2 percent, from $7,826 to $7,984, yielding an increase in total charges of 4.9 percent.

Total student charges at Penn for the 2001-2002 academic year are expected to be in line with those at other institutions in the Ivy League, based on charges already announced at Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale. Including this increase for 2001-2002, Penn average annual increase in total student charges has been 3.9% over the past four years, which is average for its peer group.

"Tuition is a vital source of revenue at Penn," President Judith Rodin said. "It provides the resources we need to pay world-class faculty, support our academic programs and maintain our facilities and campus. As always, for students who cannot afford to pay the entire bill, we make it possible for them to attend Penn through financial aid."

In the coming year, Penn will continue its longstanding need-blind admission policy, admitting students based on academic achievement without regard for their ability to pay.

"We have had a competitive financial-aid program for many years and are very proud of the financial assistance we are able to offer our students," Rodin said. "Nearly 40 percent of this year entering class received financial-aid packages consisting of a combination of University grants and loans. We are continuing our commitment to reduce the debt burden on our students by increasing the number of institutional grants offered to students and reducing loans. In fact, 25 percent of freshmen receiving financial aid this year received grants alone -- and no loans whatsoever-- and we expect that percentage to increase next year."

Penn continues to experience exceptional demand from the nation's top high school graduates. Last year, the University received 18,800 applications for 2,350 places.

"We have implemented a number of key strategic initiatives that have combined to make Penn a top choice for the nation's best students and faculty," Rodin said. "Some of those initiatives include the continuing recruitment of internationally-recognized faculty, recently approved plans for a new life sciences building and Genomics Institute, the completion of the Perelman Quadrangle, the renovation of the Quadrangle student housing complex, and state-of-the-art fitness and recreation facilities, among others," Rodin said.