by our College Data Analytics TeamMost students will never be charged 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 sum total of attendance at Purdue University Fort Wayne can sound overpowering, but remember that the majority of students get some type of financial assistance.
Just what financing solutions does PFW deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep scrolling for answers. Read on to learn just how much financial aid will be open to you.
Your financial aid package, which may contain grants and scholarships, will be determined on your financial need. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Colleges use loans, grants, scholarships and work-study to minimize what students actually pay out of pocket. Keep in mind that certain forms of assistance are more beneficial than others, and aid amounts differ from student to student.
At Purdue University Fort Wayne, 97% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid approximately 1282 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 95% | $7,135 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 88% | $2,217 |
| Federal Pell grants | 41% | $5,651 |
| State/local grants | 37% | $6,548 |
| Federal student loans | 35% | $4,486 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. At PFW, some 58% of the undergraduate population received grant aid that averaged $7,009 (across roughly 4713 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 58% | $7,009 |
| Federal Pell grants | 25% | $5,837 |
| Federal student loans | 24% | $5,757 |
Among title-IV aid recipients living on campus, grant and scholarship aid averaged $9,012.
How much a family pays depends heavily on income, because most aid is awarded on the basis of financial need.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $7,087 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $9,662 |
| Over $75,000 | $17,257 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
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 | $13,171 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $11,513 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try PFW’s NPC: www.pfw.edu/admissions-financial-aid/financial-aid/net-price-calculator.
Graduating students at PFW carry a median federal student debt of $10,556 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $10,556 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $21,500 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $227.94/mo |
Under a standard ten-year plan, the median graduate’s monthly payment lands near the figure above.
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 PFW.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $26,671 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $39,714 |
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 | $10,500 |
| Middle income | $10,547 |
| High income | $10,918 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $10,628 |
| Continuing-generation students | $10,436 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $9,500 |
| Independent students | $14,911 |
A handful of calculated indicators summarize the debt outlook at PFW.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at PFW:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 33352 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $659,803,760 |
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 | 96 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $560,787 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $5,842 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 23 |
| Total DoD amount | $66,647 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,898 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.