by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of students are not billed 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 Northwestern College can sound tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students get some type of financial help.
Just what financing solutions does NWC deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep scrolling for answers. Keep going to find out how much school funding will be available 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 Northwestern 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. However, some types of aid are more desirable than others, and some students will receive more than others.
Looking at the entering class at Northwestern College, 100% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid around 283 freshmen).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $23,537 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 100% | $20,395 |
| Federal Pell grants | 27% | $4,480 |
| State/local grants | 23% | $7,209 |
| Federal student loans | 66% | $4,970 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. Across the undergraduate body at NWC, roughly 97% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $23,305 (covering around 1124 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 97% | $23,305 |
| Federal Pell grants | 25% | $4,476 |
| Federal student loans | 56% | $6,056 |
Title-IV recipients living on campus saw average grant aid of $23,876.
Since aid is largely need-based, the real cost of attendance falls steeply for lower-income families.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $21,893 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $21,315 |
| Over $75,000 | $24,447 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
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 | $25,907 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $23,519 |
To project your own net price, use NWC’s net price tool: www.nwciowa.edu/aid-calculator.
The middle student in the debt distribution at NWC owes $16,791 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $16,791 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $23,249 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $246.48/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. The figures below chart the debt distribution at NWC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $8,000 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,250 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,453 |
| Middle income | $15,060 |
| High income | $19,875 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,849 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,886 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,688 |
| Independent students | $6,302 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. NWC.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at NWC:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 4332 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $58,524,369 |
Military-affiliated students can tap the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 13 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $215,344 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $16,565 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.