by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students will not be asked to pay the full sticker price of a school. Rather, they are offered a financial aid plan that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The total price of attendance at Dawson Community College can feel overpowering, but remember that the majority of students receive some sort of financial assistance.
What financing options does DCC offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep going to find out how much school funding will be available to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at Dawson Community College.
Financial assistance, available as scholarships, loans, and work-study, is a way schools lower the price of attendance so many students can enroll. Keep in mind that certain forms of assistance are more beneficial than others, and aid amounts differ from student to student.
Looking at the entering class at Dawson Community College, 88% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid (about 89 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 87% | $6,552 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 50% | $5,245 |
| Federal Pell grants | 41% | $5,968 |
| State/local grants | 14% | $3,221 |
| Federal student loans | 41% | $5,407 |
Because grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, they are the most sought-after type of financial aid. At DCC, approximately 93% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $3,276 (among about 376 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 93% | $3,276 |
| Federal Pell grants | 24% | $5,126 |
| Federal student loans | 18% | $5,364 |
For on-campus title-IV students, average grant aid came to $6,174.
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 | $8,639 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $11,470 |
| Over $75,000 | $12,658 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
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 | $9,931 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $10,094 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try DCC’s net price calculator: www.dawson.edu/future/financial-aid/net-price-calculator/.
The median student at DCC graduates with $5,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $5,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $9,450 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $100.19/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
The median alone does not show how widely outcomes vary across the student body. The figures below chart the debt distribution at DCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,948 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $11,800 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $13,128 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $5,500 |
| Middle income | $5,847 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,096 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for DCC.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at DCC:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 1430 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $10,246,675 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 1 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $6,705 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $6,705 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.