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 Tennessee State University can feel overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students receive some sort of financial aid.
Just what financial aid solutions can Tennessee State University deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep reading for answers. Read on to see how much school funding could be available to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. The information provided on this page can help you determine how much aid you may receive from Tennessee State University.
Aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships helps colleges decrease the real cost of attendance for most students. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
For incoming first-year students at Tennessee State University, 75% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid some 1296 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 67% | $9,661 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 28% | $10,271 |
| Federal Pell grants | 55% | $5,142 |
| State/local grants | 15% | $4,855 |
| Federal student loans | 48% | $4,873 |
Because grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, they are the most sought-after type of financial aid. At Tennessee State University, roughly 73% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $13,650 (covering around 4956 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 73% | $13,650 |
| Federal Pell grants | 51% | $5,443 |
| Federal student loans | 46% | $5,984 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $9,841.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $9,317 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $10,046 |
| Over $75,000 | $16,620 |
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 | $15,796 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $10,026 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try Tennessee State University’s NPC: www.tnstate.edu/financial_aid/tuition_calculator.aspx.
The middle student in the debt distribution at Tennessee State University owes $17,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $17,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $27,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $286.24/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
The median alone does not show how widely outcomes vary across the student body. These percentiles trace how cumulative federal debt is spread among borrowers at Tennessee State University.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,500 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $30,319 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $44,783 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $17,660 |
| Middle income | $16,998 |
| High income | $17,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,775 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,875 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,500 |
| Independent students | $17,250 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. Tennessee State University.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at Tennessee State University:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 44354 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,256,789,194 |
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 | 65 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $445,194 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $6,849 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.