by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot 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 cost of going to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art can seem overpowering, but remember that the majority of students are given some form of financial assistance.
Just what financial aid solutions can Cooper Union deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep reading 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. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
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. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
Among first-time, full-time freshmen at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 100% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind (about 186 freshmen).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $38,755 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 100% | $36,522 |
| Federal Pell grants | 27% | $6,124 |
| State/local grants | 12% | $3,720 |
| Federal student loans | 21% | $4,557 |
Unlike loans, grants and scholarships are gift aid that does not need to be paid back, making them the most desirable form of assistance. At Cooper Union, roughly 99% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $37,959 (across roughly 892 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 99% | $37,959 |
| Federal Pell grants | 28% | $5,736 |
| Federal student loans | 21% | $5,819 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $50,921.
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 | $8,393 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $9,622 |
| Over $75,000 | $26,577 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
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 | $13,269 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $16,478 |
For a customized cost estimate, visit Cooper Union’s net price tool: cooper.edu/admissions/afford.
The median federal debt load at Cooper Union comes to $12,375 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $12,375 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $15,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $159.02/mo |
Under a standard ten-year plan, the median graduate’s monthly payment lands near the figure above.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The figures below chart the debt distribution at Cooper Union.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,900 |
| 25th percentile | $5,000 |
| 75th percentile | $23,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $26,500 |
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 | $12,000 |
| Middle income | $10,000 |
| High income | $13,867 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,875 |
A handful of calculated indicators summarize the debt outlook at Cooper Union.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at Cooper Union:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 948 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $13,328,058 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 0 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $0 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.