by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of students will never be charged 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 price of attendance at Salem College can feel overpowering, but remember that the majority of students receive some sort of financial assistance.
What financing options does Salem offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep going to discover just how much financial aid could be open to you.
The amount of financial aid you can receive varies from person to person and will depend on your family’s economic situation. The information provided on this page can help you determine how much aid you may receive from Salem College.
Through a mix of loans, grants, work-study and scholarships, schools bring down the effective cost so more students can attend. Some kinds of aid are clearly preferable to others, and outcomes differ across students.
At Salem College, 100% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid approximately 154 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $30,001 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 100% | $21,626 |
| Federal Pell grants | 71% | $5,987 |
| State/local grants | 61% | $6,476 |
| Federal student loans | 56% | $5,235 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. At this school, approximately 87% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $26,471 (across roughly 376 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 87% | $26,471 |
| Federal Pell grants | 55% | $5,725 |
| Federal student loans | 45% | $6,106 |
Title-IV recipients living on campus saw average grant aid of $30,255.
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 | $17,306 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $19,065 |
| Over $75,000 | $21,520 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
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 | $18,277 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $18,835 |
To project your own net price, use Salem’s net price calculator: www.salem.edu/net-price-calculator.
The middle student in the debt distribution at Salem owes $19,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $26,649 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $282.52/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. The figures below chart the debt distribution at Salem.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,200 |
| 25th percentile | $9,450 |
| 75th percentile | $29,230 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,082 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $16,849 |
| Middle income | $20,215 |
| High income | $20,500 |
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 | $19,397 |
| Independent students | $22,512 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. Salem.
The Stafford loan program is the largest source of federal direct loans to undergraduates. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at Salem:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 4081 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $92,225,599 |
If you are a veteran or active-duty service member, the GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the primary federal programs you can use at this school.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 2 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $31,995 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $15,998 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.