by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students will not be asked to pay the advertised price of a school. Instead, they will be provided a financial aid package that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The price tag of going to Savannah College of Art and Design can appear overpowering, but remember that the majority of students obtain some kind of financial assistance.
What financial aid options can SCAD offer you, 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. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Savannah College of Art and Design.
Colleges use loans, grants, scholarships and work-study to minimize what students actually pay out of pocket. However, some types of aid are more desirable than others, and some students will receive more than others.
Looking at the entering class at Savannah College of Art and Design, 98% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind around 3466 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 98% | $12,884 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 97% | $10,984 |
| Federal Pell grants | 20% | $5,609 |
| State/local grants | 14% | $4,835 |
| Federal student loans | 39% | $5,160 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. Here, some 92% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $12,540 (across approximately 13417 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 92% | $12,540 |
| Federal Pell grants | 19% | $5,372 |
| Federal student loans | 34% | $6,249 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $14,197.
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 | $41,985 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $43,869 |
| Over $75,000 | $47,588 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
Net price is the cost remaining after grant and scholarship aid is subtracted from the sticker price, and it is the most useful single number for estimating real cost.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $49,430 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $45,450 |
For a personalized estimate based on your family’s financial situation, use SCAD’s net price tool: www.scad.edu/admission/financial-aid-and-scholarships/financial-aid/budget-planning-guide/net-price-calculator.
The median federal debt load at SCAD comes to $15,500 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $15,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $25,148 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $266.61/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 SCAD.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,334 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,166 |
The figures below break down median federal debt by income tier, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,000 |
| Middle income | $15,500 |
| High income | $15,537 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,666 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,166 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,167 |
| Independent students | $17,033 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. SCAD.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at SCAD:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 32771 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $829,327,072 |
Veterans and active-duty service members may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or DoD Tuition Assistance.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 743 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $27,657,763 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $37,224 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 2 |
| Total DoD amount | $4,166 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,083 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.