by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot 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 sum total of attendance at Sam Houston State University can sound overpowering, but remember that the majority of students get some type of financial assistance.
What financing options does SHSU offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Scroll down to learn how much school funding will be available to you.
The amount of financial aid and scholarships you are eligible for will vary depending on your family’s income. The figures below will help you estimate the aid you might receive from Sam Houston State University.
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 Sam Houston State University, 85% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid approximately 2873 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 66% | $10,669 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 8% | $5,337 |
| Federal Pell grants | 50% | $5,813 |
| State/local grants | 59% | $6,213 |
| Federal student loans | 54% | $5,571 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. At SHSU, some 68% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $8,724 (for some 12451 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 68% | $8,724 |
| Federal Pell grants | 41% | $5,603 |
| Federal student loans | 46% | $6,769 |
Title-IV recipients living on campus saw average grant aid of $9,101.
How much a family pays depends heavily on income, because most aid is awarded on the basis of financial need.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $12,036 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $13,968 |
| Over $75,000 | $22,578 |
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 | $16,404 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $16,025 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try SHSU’s net price tool: www.shsu.edu/dept/cashiers/cost/.
Graduating students at SHSU carry a median federal student debt of $16,500 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $16,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $21,983 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $233.06/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at SHSU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $6,693 |
| 75th percentile | $26,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $35,750 |
The figures below break down median federal debt by income tier, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,250 |
| Middle income | $16,500 |
| High income | $15,000 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,511 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,000 |
| Independent students | $19,714 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. SHSU.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at SHSU:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 63678 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,373,778,349 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 455 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $4,281,696 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $9,410 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 71 |
| Total DoD amount | $233,544 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $3,289 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.