by our College Data Analytics TeamMost students will never be charged the advertised price of a school. Instead, they will be provided a financial aid package that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The total cost of going to California State University-San Marcos can seem overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students are given some form of financial aid.
Just what financial assistance solutions will CSUSM provide, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Read on for answers. Keep reading to see what amount of financial assistance could be accessible to you.
The amount of financial aid you can receive varies from person to person and will depend on your family’s economic situation. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at California State University-San Marcos.
Through a mix of loans, grants, work-study and scholarships, schools bring down the effective cost so more students can attend. However, some types of aid are more desirable than others, and some students will receive more than others.
For freshmen starting at California State University-San Marcos, 79% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid roughly 1982 students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 71% | $11,123 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 46% | $5,568 |
| Federal Pell grants | 46% | $5,999 |
| State/local grants | 68% | $3,724 |
| Federal student loans | 31% | $4,872 |
Because grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, they are the most sought-after type of financial aid. At CSUSM, some 63% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $11,025 (among about 9012 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 63% | $11,025 |
| Federal Pell grants | 43% | $5,528 |
| Federal student loans | 28% | $6,540 |
Among title-IV aid recipients living on campus, grant and scholarship aid averaged $11,420.
Because need-based aid scales with family income, what students actually pay differs sharply across income brackets.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $6,985 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $8,549 |
| Over $75,000 | $17,597 |
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 | $10,229 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $10,550 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see CSUSM’s net price tool: www.calstate.edu/attend/paying-for-college/Pages/csu-costs.aspx.
The median federal debt load at CSUSM comes to $13,500 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $13,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $17,350 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $183.94/mo |
Under a standard ten-year plan, the median graduate’s monthly payment lands near the figure above.
The median alone does not show how widely outcomes vary across the student body. The figures below chart the debt distribution at CSUSM.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $23,340 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The figures below break down median federal debt by income tier, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,610 |
| Middle income | $12,500 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,995 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,500 |
| Independent students | $16,500 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. CSUSM.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. The totals below capture Stafford lending at CSUSM:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 30213 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $540,986,841 |
Veterans and active-duty service members may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or DoD Tuition Assistance.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 450 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $3,078,591 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $6,841 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 3 |
| Total DoD amount | $1,500 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $500 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.