by our College Data Analytics TeamThe majority of students will not be asked to pay the full sticker price of a school. Rather, they are offered a financial aid plan that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The sum total of attendance at Polaris Career Center can sound overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students get some type of financial aid.
Just what financing solutions does Polaris Career Center provide, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep scrolling for answers. Scroll down to see what amount of financial assistance could be accessible to you.
The amount of financial aid you can receive varies from person to person and will depend on your family’s economic situation. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at Polaris Career Center.
Colleges use loans, grants, scholarships and work-study to minimize what students actually pay out of pocket. Keep in mind that certain forms of assistance are more beneficial than others, and aid amounts differ from student to student.
For incoming first-year students at Polaris Career Center, 79% of entering full-time freshmen got some type of financial assistance approximately 31 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 79% | $5,319 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 8% | $3,499 |
| Federal Pell grants | 59% | $4,663 |
| State/local grants | 44% | $2,773 |
| Federal student loans | 41% | $5,324 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. At this school, roughly 56% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $4,756 (for some 159 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 56% | $4,756 |
| Federal Pell grants | 44% | $4,723 |
| Federal student loans | 32% | $5,113 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $7,240.
Since aid is largely need-based, the real cost of attendance falls steeply for lower-income families.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $12,479 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $13,055 |
| Over $75,000 | $16,892 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
The net price represents the average annual cost a title-IV-receiving student pays after grant aid is subtracted from the full cost of attendance.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $9,931 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $13,393 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try Polaris Career Center’s net price tool: www.polaris.edu/o/pcc/page/consumer-information.
Graduating students at Polaris Career Center carry a median federal student debt of $5,500 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $5,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $6,365 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $67.48/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
A single median figure conceals how much debt outcomes differ student to student. The percentiles below describe the cumulative federal debt distribution for borrowers at Polaris Career Center.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,000 |
| 25th percentile | $3,666 |
| 75th percentile | $7,380 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $9,500 |
Outcomes differ by income bracket, by first-generation status, and by whether a student is financially dependent.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,723 |
| Middle income | $6,156 |
| High income | $3,685 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,723 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $3,685 |
| Independent students | $6,365 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. Polaris Career Center.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at Polaris Career Center:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 1283 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $8,152,841 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 8 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $75,090 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $9,386 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.