by our College Data Analytics TeamMany students are not billed the full sticker price of a school. Rather, they are offered a financial aid plan that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The sum total of attendance at Swarthmore College can sound overpowering, but remember that the majority of students get some type of financial assistance.
What financing options does Swarthmore offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Scroll down to find out how much school funding will be available to you.
Your financial aid package, which may contain grants and scholarships, will be determined on your financial need. The figures below will help you estimate the aid you might receive from Swarthmore College.
Colleges use loans, grants, scholarships and work-study to minimize what students actually pay out of pocket. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
Looking at the entering class at Swarthmore College, 66% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid some 273 students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 57% | $61,634 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 56% | $59,543 |
| Federal Pell grants | 18% | $6,147 |
| State/local grants | 5% | $4,863 |
| Federal student loans | 10% | $5,406 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. At Swarthmore, some 58% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $59,928 (covering around 999 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 58% | $59,928 |
| Federal Pell grants | 19% | $5,777 |
| Federal student loans | 11% | $6,006 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $60,954.
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 | $7,566 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $7,301 |
| Over $75,000 | $41,477 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
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 | $23,149 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $18,686 |
For a personalized estimate based on your family’s financial situation, use Swarthmore’s NPC: www.swarthmore.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator.
The middle student in the debt distribution at Swarthmore owes $13,000 of federal student loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $13,000 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $17,500 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $185.53/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
A single median figure conceals how much debt outcomes differ student to student. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at Swarthmore.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,000 |
| 25th percentile | $8,000 |
| 75th percentile | $26,374 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $27,000 |
Outcomes differ by income bracket, by first-generation status, and by whether a student is financially dependent.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $7,500 |
| Middle income | $9,900 |
| High income | $14,811 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,696 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. Swarthmore.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at Swarthmore:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 1672 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $21,675,732 |
Military-affiliated students can tap the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 6 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $107,602 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $17,934 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 0 |
| Total DoD amount | $0 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.