by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of students will not be asked to pay 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 price tag of going to Portland Community College can appear overpowering, but remember that the majority of students obtain some kind of financial assistance.
What financial aid options can Portland Community College offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Keep scrolling to learn 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 information provided on this page can help you determine how much aid you may receive from Portland Community College.
Aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships helps colleges decrease the real cost of attendance for most students. 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 Portland Community College, 70% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid (about 1497 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 64% | $7,297 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 0% | — |
| Federal Pell grants | 45% | $5,362 |
| State/local grants | 58% | $3,890 |
| Federal student loans | 26% | $5,117 |
Because grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, they are the most sought-after type of financial aid. At this school, some 42% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $6,433 (covering around 8339 awardees).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 42% | $6,433 |
| Federal Pell grants | 32% | $4,742 |
| Federal student loans | 21% | $5,932 |
For on-campus title-IV students, average grant aid came to $7,529.
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 | $8,715 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $9,731 |
| Over $75,000 | $14,750 |
These figures reflect what title-IV aid recipients pay after grant and scholarship aid is applied.
After grants and scholarships come off the published price, what remains is the net price — the best estimate of true out-of-pocket cost.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $10,405 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $9,920 |
For a customized cost estimate, visit Portland Community College’s online cost calculator: www.pcc.edu/enroll/paying-for-college/financial-aid/net-price-calculator/.
A typical borrower at Portland Community College leaves with $7,287 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $7,287 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $12,999 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $137.81/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The percentiles below describe the cumulative federal debt distribution for borrowers at Portland Community College.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,833 |
| 25th percentile | $3,500 |
| 75th percentile | $17,771 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $28,507 |
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 | $8,875 |
| Middle income | $6,667 |
| High income | $5,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $7,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,000 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,500 |
| Independent students | $9,500 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for Portland Community College.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at Portland Community College:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 83727 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,179,197,374 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 555 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $1,454,896 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $2,621 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 37 |
| Total DoD amount | $58,567 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $1,583 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.