by our College Data Analytics TeamThe majority 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 sum total of attendance at Michigan State University can sound tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students get some type of financial help.
Just what financial assistance solutions will Michigan State deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Read on for answers. Keep going to find out what amount of financial assistance will be accessible to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. The figures below will help you estimate the aid you might receive from Michigan State University.
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 Michigan State University, 92% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid some 8601 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 88% | $9,750 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 86% | $6,841 |
| Federal Pell grants | 20% | $5,825 |
| State/local grants | 28% | $5,258 |
| Federal student loans | 34% | $5,229 |
Because grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, they are the most sought-after type of financial aid. At this school, approximately 80% of the undergraduate population received grant aid that averaged $9,834 (for some 32270 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 80% | $9,834 |
| Federal Pell grants | 20% | $5,733 |
| Federal student loans | 34% | $6,308 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $12,518.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $10,336 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $17,330 |
| Over $75,000 | $27,732 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
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 | $19,680 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $20,751 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try Michigan State’s NPC: msu.clearcostcalculator.com/student/default/netpricecalculator/survey.
The middle student in the debt distribution at Michigan State owes $19,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $23,250 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $246.49/mo |
Under a standard ten-year plan, the median graduate’s monthly payment lands near the figure above.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at Michigan State.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,250 |
| 25th percentile | $10,750 |
| 75th percentile | $30,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $38,960 |
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 | $16,266 |
| Middle income | $21,250 |
| High income | $20,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,606 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $19,116 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for Michigan State.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at Michigan State:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 115321 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $3,991,062,978 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 467 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $7,270,260 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $15,568 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 73 |
| Total DoD amount | $255,625 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $3,502 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.