by our College Data Analytics TeamMost students are not billed the full, advertised sticker price of a school. Instead, they will be given a financial aid offer that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The price tag of going to Bluffton University can appear overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students obtain some kind of financial aid.
What financing options does Bluffton offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep going to discover just how much financial aid could be open to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Bluffton University.
Aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships helps colleges decrease the real cost of attendance for most students. Bear in mind that not all aid is equal, and the amount any one student receives can vary widely.
For incoming first-year students at Bluffton University, 100% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind some 190 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $31,481 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 100% | $26,209 |
| Federal Pell grants | 59% | $6,083 |
| State/local grants | 28% | $4,759 |
| Federal student loans | 78% | $6,162 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. At Bluffton, roughly 98% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $29,824 (covering around 592 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 98% | $29,824 |
| Federal Pell grants | 45% | $6,008 |
| Federal student loans | 77% | $6,978 |
Among title-IV aid recipients living on campus, grant and scholarship aid averaged $31,919.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $16,567 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $17,422 |
| Over $75,000 | $18,016 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
The net price strips out grant and scholarship aid from the sticker price to show roughly what families really pay.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $19,943 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $17,430 |
To project your own net price, use Bluffton’s net price calculator: www.bluffton.edu/admissions/financialaid/calculator.html.
The median federal debt load at Bluffton comes to $19,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $27,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $286.24/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The figures below chart the debt distribution at Bluffton.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,705 |
| 25th percentile | $5,687 |
| 75th percentile | $28,700 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,500 |
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 | $12,656 |
| Middle income | $18,458 |
| High income | $21,826 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,000 |
| Independent students | $24,750 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for Bluffton.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at Bluffton:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 4437 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $84,862,363 |
Veterans and active-duty service members may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or DoD Tuition Assistance.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 3 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $31,551 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $10,517 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.