<p>On the UPenn financial aid supplemental there is a spot for the student to sign to grant the University the right to send your transcript and financial aid information to any prospective scholarship donor. </p>
<p>It does not look like this is mandatory – anyone know if it is ?</p>
<p>If it is not mandatory — is there any positive or negative to doing it other than not knowing who will be looking at your most confidential financial information – which may be a negative itself.</p>
<p>Lloyd, hopefully someone with some firsthand knowledge will give you some solid information on this, but I just want to share that, as an alumna and someone who worked in Penn’s development office many years ago, I’m guessing your information would only be shared with a very select group of alumni/friends who provide named scholarships to top students. I’m going to guess that group of people will be very discreet. </p>
<p>Think about it from the donor’s point of view: To whom would you rather award money–someone who’s fully transparent or someone who isn’t? I’m not saying those who don’t provide that information are passed over, but I would think it could be a factor.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think there’s much risk involved. Unfortunately, for those of us seeking financial aid for our kids, there’s really no getting around sharing a lot of sensitive information!</p>