by our College Data Analytics TeamMost students will never be charged 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 Northwestern College can seem tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students are given some form of financial help.
Just what financing solutions does NC deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep scrolling for answers. Keep going to discover just how much financial aid could be open to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Northwestern College.
Colleges use loans, grants, scholarships and work-study to minimize what students actually pay out of pocket. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $24,724 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $25,885 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
A typical borrower at NC leaves with $9,569 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $9,569 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $19,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $201.43/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
The median alone does not show how widely outcomes vary across the student body. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at NC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,167 |
| 25th percentile | $6,290 |
| 75th percentile | $24,244 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $32,869 |
How much a student borrows depends heavily on family income, first-gen status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $9,819 |
| Middle income | $9,500 |
| High income | $11,154 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $10,130 |
| Continuing-generation students | $9,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $9,919 |
| Independent students | $9,501 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at NC.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at NC:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 15402 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $267,524,763 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.