by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students are not billed 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 cost of going to Lake Forest College can seem overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students are given some form of financial aid.
Just what financing solutions does Lake Forest deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep scrolling for answers. Keep scrolling to see how much school funding could be available 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 Lake Forest 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. Bear in mind that not all aid is equal, and the amount any one student receives can vary widely.
For incoming first-year students at Lake Forest College, 100% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid (about 425 students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $39,630 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 100% | $35,698 |
| Federal Pell grants | 30% | $5,556 |
| State/local grants | 24% | $8,352 |
| Federal student loans | 70% | $5,455 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. Here, about 99% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $49,998 (among about 1785 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 99% | $49,998 |
| Federal Pell grants | 32% | $5,676 |
| Federal student loans | 67% | $6,906 |
Title-IV recipients living on campus saw average grant aid of $41,982.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $19,076 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $21,506 |
| Over $75,000 | $33,706 |
Each amount is the average cost remaining once grant aid is subtracted, by income band.
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 | $28,673 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $27,499 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try Lake Forest’s net price tool: www.lakeforest.edu/admissions/financial-aid/financial-aid-for-new-students/net-price-calculator.
The middle student in the debt distribution at Lake Forest owes $21,500 of federal student loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $21,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $26,158 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $277.32/mo |
Spreading the median graduate debt over a standard 10-year repayment schedule works out to roughly the monthly payment shown above.
The numbers below show the full range, not just the middle of the distribution. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at Lake Forest.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $14,500 |
| 75th percentile | $28,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $40,500 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,267 |
| Middle income | $19,500 |
| High income | $23,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $23,250 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $21,500 |
| Independent students | $16,500 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for Lake Forest.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at Lake Forest:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 4818 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $82,864,210 |
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 | 11 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $286,910 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $26,083 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.