by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students are not billed 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 Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences can feel tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students receive some sort of financial help.
Just what financing solutions does CMU CLAS provide, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep scrolling for answers. Keep going to learn how much school funding will be available 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 Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
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 Central Methodist University-College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 100% of entering full-time freshmen got some type of financial assistance (about 228 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $20,598 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 100% | $17,080 |
| Federal Pell grants | 45% | $5,322 |
| State/local grants | 40% | $2,317 |
| Federal student loans | 59% | $5,474 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. Across the undergraduate body at CMU CLAS, about 100% of undergraduates were awarded grant or scholarship aid averaging $21,159 (across roughly 1017 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $21,159 |
| Federal Pell grants | 40% | $5,486 |
| Federal student loans | 61% | $6,473 |
Among title-IV aid recipients living on campus, grant and scholarship aid averaged $20,869.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $23,280 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $24,297 |
| Over $75,000 | $28,378 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
Net price is the average annual cost after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the published cost of attendance — the figure closest to what a typical aid-receiving student actually pays.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $22,766 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $25,477 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see CMU CLAS’s official net price calculator: www.centralmethodist.edu/admissions/financial-aid/calculator/npcalc.htm.
The median student at CMU CLAS graduates with $13,292 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $13,292 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $17,619 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $186.79/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
The numbers below show the full range, not just the middle of the distribution. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at CMU CLAS.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,070 |
| 25th percentile | $5,845 |
| 75th percentile | $21,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $28,500 |
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 | $12,876 |
| Middle income | $13,750 |
| High income | $13,100 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $13,567 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $14,757 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for CMU CLAS.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at CMU CLAS:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 12981 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $228,550,302 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 12 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $114,490 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $9,541 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 2 |
| Total DoD amount | $7,375 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $3,688 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.