by our College Data Analytics TeamMost students will not be asked to pay 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 sum total of attendance at Central Michigan University can sound tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students get some type of financial help.
Just what financing solutions does Central Michigan provide, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep scrolling for answers. Scroll down to see how much school funding could be available to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Central Michigan University.
Colleges use loans, grants, scholarships and work-study to minimize what students actually pay out of pocket. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
Looking at the entering class at Central Michigan University, 96% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind approximately 1936 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 94% | $13,042 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 93% | $8,278 |
| Federal Pell grants | 32% | $5,540 |
| State/local grants | 54% | $5,065 |
| Federal student loans | 75% | $5,322 |
Because grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, they are the most sought-after type of financial aid. Here, some 83% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $10,541 (for some 8388 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 83% | $10,541 |
| Federal Pell grants | 31% | $5,354 |
| Federal student loans | 69% | $7,215 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $13,084.
Since aid is largely need-based, the real cost of attendance falls steeply for lower-income families.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $12,254 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $13,128 |
| Over $75,000 | $18,314 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
After grants and scholarships come off the published price, what remains is the net price — the best estimate of true out-of-pocket cost.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $17,597 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $16,041 |
For a personalized estimate based on your family’s financial situation, use Central Michigan’s NPC: cmich.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx.
Graduating students at Central Michigan carry a median federal student debt of $23,183 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $23,183 |
| 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.
A single median figure conceals how much debt outcomes differ student to student. These percentiles trace how cumulative federal debt is spread among borrowers at Central Michigan.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $9,326 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,188 |
Outcomes differ by income bracket, by first-generation status, and by whether a student is financially dependent.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $23,376 |
| Middle income | $23,500 |
| High income | $22,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $22,330 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $23,250 |
| Independent students | $20,650 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at Central Michigan.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The totals below capture Stafford lending at Central Michigan:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 83376 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $2,311,916,130 |
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 | 218 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $2,058,414 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $9,442 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 143 |
| Total DoD amount | $370,795 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,593 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.