by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of students will not be asked to pay 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 total cost of going to George Washington University can seem overpowering, but remember that the majority of students are given some form of financial assistance.
What financing options does GWU offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep scrolling to learn what amount of financial assistance will be accessible to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. The figures below will help you estimate the aid you might receive from George Washington University.
Financial assistance, available as scholarships, loans, and work-study, is a way schools lower the price of attendance so many students can enroll. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
For incoming first-year students at George Washington University, 80% of entering full-time freshmen got some type of financial assistance some 2018 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 78% | $37,500 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 78% | $35,915 |
| Federal Pell grants | 17% | $5,751 |
| State/local grants | 0% | $2,500 |
| Federal student loans | 34% | $5,192 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. At this school, about 67% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $37,813 (across roughly 7588 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 67% | $37,813 |
| Federal Pell grants | 16% | $5,652 |
| Federal student loans | 32% | $6,438 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $47,270.
The figures below show the average net price — cost after all grant and scholarship aid — broken out by family income.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $19,900 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $20,321 |
| Over $75,000 | $48,474 |
The numbers above are post-aid net prices, so they already account for grants and scholarships.
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 | $36,586 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $37,454 |
For a personalized estimate based on your family’s financial situation, use GWU’s online cost calculator: financialaid.gwu.edu/net-price-calculator.
The median student at GWU graduates with $19,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $20,449 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $216.79/mo |
The 10-year payment estimate assumes a standard federal repayment plan and the median graduate debt amount.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. The percentiles below describe the cumulative federal debt distribution for borrowers at GWU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $29,400 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,900 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,500 |
| Middle income | $20,000 |
| High income | $19,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
A handful of calculated indicators summarize the debt outlook at GWU.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. The totals below capture Stafford lending at GWU:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 61010 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $2,249,641,024 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 862 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $19,053,075 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $22,103 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 101 |
| Total DoD amount | $167,348 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $1,657 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.