by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students will never be charged 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 total price of attendance at Bennington College can feel tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students receive some sort of financial help.
What financial assistance options will Bennington offer, and what will you qualify for? Read on for more information. Keep going to learn just how much financial aid will be open to you.
The amount of financial aid and scholarships you are eligible for will vary depending on your family’s income. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Bennington College.
Financial assistance, available as scholarships, loans, and work-study, is a way schools lower the price of attendance so many students can enroll. Bear in mind that not all aid is equal, and the amount any one student receives can vary widely.
Looking at the entering class at Bennington College, 100% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind (about 206 freshmen).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $53,064 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 100% | $51,297 |
| Federal Pell grants | 27% | $5,184 |
| State/local grants | 2% | $1,980 |
| Federal student loans | 53% | $4,935 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. Here, roughly 96% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $52,197 (across roughly 724 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 96% | $52,197 |
| Federal Pell grants | 25% | $5,431 |
| Federal student loans | 50% | $6,181 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $56,337.
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 | $18,686 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $22,900 |
| Over $75,000 | $40,132 |
The numbers above are post-aid net prices, so they already account for grants and scholarships.
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 | $30,947 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $31,918 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Bennington’s NPC: www.bennington.edu/admissions/apply/financing-your-education/tuition-and-fees/net-price-calculator.
The median student at Bennington graduates with $19,250 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,250 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $26,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $275.64/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
The numbers below show the full range, not just the middle of the distribution. The percentiles below describe the cumulative federal debt distribution for borrowers at Bennington.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,423 |
| Middle income | $18,198 |
| High income | $21,250 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,750 |
A handful of calculated indicators summarize the debt outlook at Bennington.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at Bennington:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 2521 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $43,310,565 |
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 | 5 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $119,328 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $23,866 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.