by our College Data Analytics TeamThe majority of 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 total cost of going to Boston University can seem overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students are given some form of financial aid.
What financing options does Boston U offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Scroll down to learn how much school funding will be available to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. The figures below will help you estimate the aid you might receive from Boston University.
Through a mix of loans, grants, work-study and scholarships, schools bring down the effective cost so more students can attend. Some kinds of aid are clearly preferable to others, and outcomes differ across students.
Among first-time, full-time freshmen at Boston University, 54% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid approximately 1702 students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 49% | $61,848 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 48% | $58,490 |
| Federal Pell grants | 21% | $6,031 |
| State/local grants | 3% | $4,111 |
| Federal student loans | 19% | $4,011 |
Because grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, they are the most sought-after type of financial aid. At Boston U, roughly 50% of the undergraduate population received grant aid that averaged $54,501 (covering around 9402 awardees).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 50% | $54,501 |
| Federal Pell grants | 19% | $5,844 |
| Federal student loans | 23% | $5,428 |
For on-campus title-IV students, average grant aid came to $61,883.
The figures below show the average net price — cost after all grant and scholarship aid — broken out by family income.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $11,347 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $12,421 |
| Over $75,000 | $43,118 |
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 | $24,402 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $26,996 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Boston U’s net price calculator: www.bu.edu/finaid/aid-basics/cost-of-education/net-price-calculator/.
The middle student in the debt distribution at Boston U owes $21,500 of federal student loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $21,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $23,250 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $246.49/mo |
Under a standard ten-year plan, the median graduate’s monthly payment lands near the figure above.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The figures below chart the debt distribution at Boston U.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,250 |
| 75th percentile | $30,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,500 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,821 |
| Middle income | $21,500 |
| High income | $21,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $21,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $21,445 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,500 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for Boston U.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at Boston U:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 72626 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $2,387,770,436 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 273 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $3,908,564 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $14,317 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 34 |
| Total DoD amount | $112,915 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $3,321 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.