by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of 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 price tag of going to Columbia University in the City of New York can appear overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students obtain some kind of financial aid.
Just what financial assistance solutions will Columbia deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Read on for answers. Scroll down 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 figures below will help you estimate the aid you might receive from Columbia University in the City of New York.
Financial aid, in the form of loans, grants, work-study, and scholarships, is one way colleges reduce the cost of attendance so most students can actually afford to attend. However, some types of aid are more desirable than others, and some students will receive more than others.
For freshmen starting at Columbia University in the City of New York, 57% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid roughly 851 students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 52% | $67,010 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 52% | $63,956 |
| Federal Pell grants | 21% | $6,190 |
| State/local grants | 6% | $3,976 |
| Federal student loans | 5% | $5,317 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. Across the undergraduate body at Columbia, roughly 55% of the undergraduate population received grant aid that averaged $55,902 (across approximately 4983 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 55% | $55,902 |
| Federal Pell grants | 23% | $5,980 |
| Federal student loans | 14% | $9,390 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $67,882.
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 | $5,640 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $5,088 |
| Over $75,000 | $37,937 |
Each amount is the average cost remaining once grant aid is subtracted, by income band.
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 | $21,590 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $20,148 |
To project your own net price, use Columbia’s NPC: cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/estimate-cost.
Graduating students at Columbia carry a median federal student debt of $18,750 of federal student loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $18,750 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $21,500 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $227.94/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 Columbia.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,508 |
| 25th percentile | $8,636 |
| 75th percentile | $28,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $52,600 |
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 | $23,000 |
| Middle income | $16,259 |
| High income | $15,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $16,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. Columbia.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at Columbia:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 51334 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $2,035,846,050 |
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 | 372 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $9,269,694 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $24,919 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 6 |
| Total DoD amount | $16,000 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,667 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.