Penn State students continue to receive a substantial amount of financial aid to attend school, but the number of available need-based scholarships remains relatively low, university officials said this week.

Citing statistics from the 2000-2001 school year, officials said 74 percent of Penn State undergraduates were awarded an excess of $367 million in financial aid. However, nearly 60 percent -- or about $200 million -- of those allotted funds came in the form of student loans.

This discrepancy resulted in students having an average debt of $17,400 from loans upon graduating from Penn State, a fact that did not sit well with administrators.

"The amount of scholarships available isn't very high ... and the university wanted to increase the number of scholarships available to financially needy students," Penn State spokeswoman Laura Stocker said.

Combining that fact with the continued focus on sagging economies and bloated tuition rates, the university and the Penn State Board of Trustees decided a fresh approach was long overdue.

At its July meeting, the Board of Trustees instituted the Trustee Scholarship Program, an endowment initiative meant to assist financially needy undergraduates. The program's main goal is to raise $100 million in endowed funds over the next five years.

Dave Lieb, executive director of university development, said the program reinforces the values that the school's administration has held in the face of rising costs everywhere.

"I think the expectation is that this demonstrates the university is intent on keeping Penn State affordable," Lieb said.

The brainchild of Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations Rod Kirsch, the Trustee Scholarship Program uses a matching component strategy that separates it from other standard university endowments, Stocker said.

The university will add 5 percent of the total private donation to the overall scholarship for as long as it exists, Stocker said.

For example, she said, an individual may pledge $100,000 to the scholarship program.

The university, in turn, will make $5,000 (5 percent of the pledge) available each year per individual scholarship recipient.

The program, still in its infancy, recently received its first considerable boost. Bob Banks, a 1966 Penn State graduate, and his wife Jennifer donated $500,000 for use by the Smeal College of Business.

"I wanted to give something back to the university," Bob Banks said.

"I felt there were a lot of people that had the mental ability to get into college, but for whatever reason, they were facing financial problems," he said.

University officials said they were pleased to see the program move forward in its goal of providing students with more financial aid opportunities.

"The first donation for the new Trustee Scholarship Program sets a wonderful example for others," Penn State President Graham Spanier said in an e-mailed statement.

Spanier added that he has talked with potential donors and is "confident" the university will reach its $100 million goal.