by our College Data Analytics TeamMany students are not billed the advertised price of a school. Instead, they will be provided a financial aid package that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The total price of attendance at Grand Rapids Community College can feel overpowering, but remember that the majority of students receive some sort of financial assistance.
Just what financial assistance solutions will Grand Rapids Community College deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Read on for answers. Keep reading to see just how much financial aid could be open 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 Grand Rapids Community College.
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. Some kinds of aid are clearly preferable to others, and outcomes differ across students.
For incoming first-year students at Grand Rapids Community College, 74% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind (about 1053 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 67% | $6,288 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 16% | $1,039 |
| Federal Pell grants | 46% | $5,138 |
| State/local grants | 48% | $3,518 |
| Federal student loans | 17% | $3,645 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. Across the undergraduate body at Grand Rapids Community College, about 53% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $4,494 (across approximately 6472 awardees).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 53% | $4,494 |
| Federal Pell grants | 29% | $4,018 |
| Federal student loans | 14% | $4,015 |
For on-campus title-IV students, average grant aid came to $7,037.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $9,409 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $10,963 |
| Over $75,000 | $14,879 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
Net price is the cost remaining after grant and scholarship aid is subtracted from the sticker price, and it is the most useful single number for estimating real cost.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $8,621 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $11,153 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Grand Rapids Community College’s net price tool: www.grcc.edu/about-grcc/student-consumer-information/net-price-calculator.
The middle student in the debt distribution at Grand Rapids Community College owes $5,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $5,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $9,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $95.41/mo |
The 10-year payment estimate assumes a standard federal repayment plan and the median graduate debt amount.
The median alone does not show how widely outcomes vary across the student body. The figures below chart the debt distribution at Grand Rapids Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,411 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $9,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $15,528 |
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 | $5,250 |
| Middle income | $5,500 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $5,375 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,250 |
| Independent students | $5,501 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at Grand Rapids Community College.
The Stafford loan program is the largest source of federal direct loans to undergraduates. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at Grand Rapids Community College:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 40819 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $357,506,177 |
Veterans and active-duty service members may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or DoD Tuition Assistance.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 101 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $494,663 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $4,898 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 12 |
| Total DoD amount | $18,351 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $1,529 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.