Penn State has joined 129 other public universities in a five-year Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) access and affordability initiative.

Over the next five years, Penn State and its cluster of other Big Ten Academic Alliance Schools, including Indiana and Rutgers, will be studied to examine access and affordability measures that can be changed to make getting a college degree more affordable and obtainable.

More than 73 percent of Penn State students receive some sort of financial aid, according to admissions. Essentially, this study will help Penn State evaluate how it can improve its financial offerings in relation to retention and graduation rates.

Penn State has already launched the Pathway to Success: Summer Start, as well as the Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center and the Student Transition Experiences Program to help students with both financial aid and career skills. These programs, as well as the APLU Access Initiative, will help Penn State students with career planning and financial literacy skills earlier in their educational careers. The APLU hopes to award hundreds of thousands of more degrees by 2025.