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 total cost of going to California State University-Sacramento can seem overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students are given some form of financial aid.
What financial aid options can Sac State offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Keep scrolling to learn how much school funding will be available to you.
The amount of financial aid and scholarships you are eligible for will vary depending on your family’s income. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at California State University-Sacramento.
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.
For freshmen starting at California State University-Sacramento, 86% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid roughly 3234 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 82% | $12,767 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 57% | $5,934 |
| Federal Pell grants | 57% | $5,947 |
| State/local grants | 75% | $4,731 |
| Federal student loans | 22% | $4,733 |
Unlike loans, grants and scholarships are gift aid that does not need to be paid back, making them the most desirable form of assistance. At Sac State, roughly 71% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $12,036 (for some 20038 awardees).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 71% | $12,036 |
| Federal Pell grants | 49% | $5,426 |
| Federal student loans | 23% | $6,831 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $13,607.
How much a family pays depends heavily on income, because most aid is awarded on the basis of financial need.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $7,675 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $9,524 |
| Over $75,000 | $17,712 |
These figures reflect what title-IV aid recipients pay after grant and scholarship aid is applied.
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 | $9,338 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $10,512 |
To project your own net price, use Sac State’s NPC: www2.calstate.edu/attend/paying-for-college/Pages/csu-costs.aspx.
Graduating students at Sac State carry a median federal student debt of $12,500 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $12,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $15,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $159.02/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. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at Sac State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,460 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $11,250 |
| High income | $13,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,000 |
| Independent students | $15,000 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at Sac State.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at Sac State:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 70615 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,357,135,620 |
Veterans and active-duty service members may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or DoD Tuition Assistance.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 307 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $1,436,559 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $4,679 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 21 |
| Total DoD amount | $59,002 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,810 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.