by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students will never be charged 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 total price of attendance at Bismarck State College can feel overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students receive some sort of financial aid.
What financial aid options can BSC offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Keep reading to learn what amount of financial assistance will be accessible to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Bismarck State College.
Financial aid, in the form of loans, grants, work-study, and scholarships, is one way colleges reduce the cost of attendance so most students can actually afford to attend. Some kinds of aid are clearly preferable to others, and outcomes differ across students.
Looking at the entering class at Bismarck State College, 86% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind some 607 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 73% | $5,049 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 44% | $2,251 |
| Federal Pell grants | 24% | $5,500 |
| State/local grants | 53% | $2,409 |
| Federal student loans | 37% | $5,127 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. At BSC, approximately 39% of undergraduates were awarded grant or scholarship aid averaging $5,241 (across roughly 1570 awardees).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 39% | $5,241 |
| Federal Pell grants | 15% | $4,610 |
| Federal student loans | 20% | $5,923 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $5,501.
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 | $6,965 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $8,896 |
| Over $75,000 | $13,370 |
The numbers above are post-aid net prices, so they already account for grants and scholarships.
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 | $10,270 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $10,725 |
To project your own net price, use BSC’s NPC: bismarckstate.edu/includes/netprice/.
The median student at BSC graduates with $6,750 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $6,750 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $11,533 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $122.27/mo |
Spreading the median graduate debt over a standard 10-year repayment schedule works out to roughly the monthly payment shown above.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The figures below chart the debt distribution at BSC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,476 |
| 25th percentile | $3,850 |
| 75th percentile | $12,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $18,911 |
How much a student borrows depends heavily on family income, first-gen status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,452 |
| Middle income | $8,149 |
| High income | $5,781 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,493 |
| Continuing-generation students | $6,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $10,500 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. BSC.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at BSC:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 11012 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $109,571,932 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 76 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $270,593 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $3,560 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 63 |
| Total DoD amount | $117,980 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $1,873 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.