by our College Data Analytics TeamMany students will not be asked to pay 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 Colorado State University-Fort Collins can feel overpowering, but remember that the majority of students receive some sort of financial assistance.
What financing options does Colorado State offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep scrolling to see how much school funding could be available to you.
The amount of financial aid and scholarships you are eligible for will vary depending on your family’s income. The information provided on this page can help you determine how much aid you may receive from Colorado State University-Fort Collins.
Aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships helps colleges decrease the real cost of attendance for most students. Some kinds of aid are clearly preferable to others, and outcomes differ across students.
For freshmen starting at Colorado State University-Fort Collins, 79% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid (about 4139 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 69% | $10,160 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 66% | $7,876 |
| Federal Pell grants | 20% | $5,462 |
| State/local grants | 10% | $5,247 |
| Federal student loans | 35% | $5,024 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. At Colorado State, approximately 57% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $11,675 (for some 14642 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 57% | $11,675 |
| Federal Pell grants | 21% | $5,183 |
| Federal student loans | 32% | $6,167 |
For on-campus title-IV students, average grant aid came to $10,363.
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 | $11,468 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $13,307 |
| Over $75,000 | $27,115 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
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 | $21,279 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $20,332 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Colorado State’s NPC: admissions.colostate.edu/cost-financial-aid/net-price-calculator/.
The median student at Colorado State graduates with $14,750 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $14,750 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $20,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $212.03/mo |
Spreading the median graduate debt over a standard 10-year repayment schedule works out to roughly the monthly payment shown above.
A single median figure conceals how much debt outcomes differ student to student. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at Colorado State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $25,535 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,750 |
Outcomes differ by income bracket, by first-generation status, and by whether a student is financially dependent.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,822 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $14,513 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,468 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,250 |
| Independent students | $16,516 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for Colorado State.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at Colorado State:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 69912 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,527,005,769 |
If you are a veteran or active-duty service member, the GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the primary federal programs you can use at this school.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 1020 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $12,673,312 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $12,425 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 92 |
| Total DoD amount | $47,342 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $515 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.