by our College Data Analytics TeamThe majority of students are not billed the complete price tag of a school. Rather, they are presented a financial aid deal that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The total cost of going to Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks can seem overpowering, but remember that the majority of students are given some form of financial assistance.
What financial aid options can Penn State Berks offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Keep scrolling to see just how much financial aid could be open to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks.
Financial assistance, available as scholarships, loans, and work-study, is a way schools lower the price of attendance so many students can enroll. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
For freshmen starting at Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks, 83% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind (about 488 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 69% | $9,405 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 64% | $5,904 |
| Federal Pell grants | 30% | $5,628 |
| State/local grants | 18% | $4,781 |
| Federal student loans | 54% | $5,188 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. At this school, approximately 68% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $9,856 (across approximately 1311 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 68% | $9,856 |
| Federal Pell grants | 29% | $5,362 |
| Federal student loans | 52% | $6,136 |
Title-IV recipients living on campus saw average grant aid of $7,886.
The figures below show the average net price — cost after all grant and scholarship aid — broken out by family income.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $17,617 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $20,216 |
| Over $75,000 | $28,769 |
The numbers above are post-aid net prices, so they already account for grants and scholarships.
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 | $24,356 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $24,581 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Penn State Berks’s net price calculator: tuition.psu.edu/CostEstimate.aspx.
The median federal debt load at Penn State Berks comes to $19,500 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $25,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $265.04/mo |
Under a standard ten-year plan, the median graduate’s monthly payment lands near the figure above.
The numbers below show the full range, not just the middle of the distribution. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at Penn State Berks.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,750 |
| 25th percentile | $8,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $34,000 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,000 |
| Middle income | $20,000 |
| High income | $19,700 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $19,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $19,486 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. Penn State Berks.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at Penn State Berks:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 238368 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $4,885,479,531 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 51 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $695,488 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $13,637 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 3 |
| Total DoD amount | $8,250 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,750 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.