by our College Data Analytics TeamThe majority of students will not be asked to pay the complete price tag of a school. Rather, they are presented a financial aid deal that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The sum total of attendance at Howard University can sound overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students get some type of financial aid.
What financing options does Howard offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep scrolling to see just how much financial aid could be open to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at Howard University.
Aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships helps colleges decrease the real cost of attendance for most students. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
Among first-time, full-time freshmen at Howard University, 100% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid approximately 2255 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 99% | $21,262 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 96% | $19,228 |
| Federal Pell grants | 40% | $5,833 |
| State/local grants | 3% | $1,235 |
| Federal student loans | 63% | $5,585 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. At Howard, approximately 87% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $21,995 (across roughly 8846 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 87% | $21,995 |
| Federal Pell grants | 40% | $5,942 |
| Federal student loans | 59% | $6,743 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $4,091.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $44,735 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $47,330 |
| Over $75,000 | $51,199 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
Net price is the cost remaining after grant and scholarship aid is subtracted from the sticker price, and it is the most useful single number for estimating real cost.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $50,539 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $47,919 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Howard’s official net price calculator: www2.howard.edu/student-financial-services/net-price-calculator.
The median federal debt load at Howard comes to $19,200 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,200 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $24,500 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $259.74/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at Howard.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $30,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,500 |
Outcomes differ by income bracket, by first-generation status, and by whether a student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,197 |
| Middle income | $19,750 |
| High income | $18,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,464 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,172 |
| Independent students | $19,528 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. Howard.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. The totals below capture Stafford lending at Howard:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 53323 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $2,265,127,625 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 254 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $5,976,740 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $23,530 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.