by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students are not billed 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 total cost of going to Southern Arkansas University Tech can seem tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students are given some form of financial help.
What financial assistance options will SAU Tech offer you, and what will you qualify for? Read on for more information. Keep reading to see what amount of financial assistance could be accessible 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 Southern Arkansas University Tech.
Financial aid, in the form of loans, grants, work-study, and scholarships, is one way colleges reduce the cost of attendance so most students can actually afford to attend. However, some types of aid are more desirable than others, and some students will receive more than others.
For incoming first-year students at Southern Arkansas University Tech, 96% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid around 182 students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 94% | $7,934 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 38% | $3,727 |
| Federal Pell grants | 72% | $6,289 |
| State/local grants | 36% | $3,593 |
| Federal student loans | 16% | $2,299 |
Unlike loans, grants and scholarships are gift aid that does not need to be paid back, making them the most desirable form of assistance. Across the undergraduate body at SAU Tech, approximately 88% of undergraduates were awarded grant or scholarship aid averaging $4,402 (across roughly 829 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 88% | $4,402 |
| Federal Pell grants | 42% | $5,732 |
| Federal student loans | 10% | $5,834 |
Title-IV recipients living on campus saw average grant aid of $8,276.
Because need-based aid scales with family income, what students actually pay differs sharply across income brackets.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $4,912 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $6,444 |
| Over $75,000 | $9,856 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
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 | $9,018 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $5,895 |
To project your own net price, use SAU Tech’s NPC: www.sautech.edu/netPriceCalc/index.html.
The middle student in the debt distribution at SAU Tech owes $4,500 of federal student loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $4,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $6,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $63.61/mo |
The 10-year payment estimate assumes a standard federal repayment plan and the median graduate debt amount.
The median alone does not show how widely outcomes vary across the student body. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at SAU Tech.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,300 |
| 25th percentile | $2,250 |
| 75th percentile | $7,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $11,336 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $3,774 |
| Middle income | $5,000 |
| High income | $5,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $4,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $3,525 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $4,000 |
| Independent students | $5,667 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at SAU Tech.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at SAU Tech:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 2569 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $19,323,702 |
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 | 6 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $19,227 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $3,205 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 12 |
| Total DoD amount | $7,597 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $633 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.