by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of 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 total cost of going to Tufts University can seem tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students are given some form of financial help.
What financing options does Tufts offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Scroll down to learn just how much financial aid will be open to you.
The amount of financial aid you can receive varies from person to person and will depend on your family’s economic situation. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at Tufts University.
Aid such as grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships helps colleges decrease the real cost of attendance for most students. However, some types of aid are more desirable than others, and some students will receive more than others.
Among first-time, full-time freshmen at Tufts University, 45% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid some 786 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 39% | $55,933 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 39% | $54,110 |
| Federal Pell grants | 11% | $5,888 |
| State/local grants | 4% | $4,031 |
| Federal student loans | 20% | $3,806 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. Here, some 41% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $52,946 (for some 2792 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 41% | $52,946 |
| Federal Pell grants | 12% | $5,858 |
| Federal student loans | 19% | $4,781 |
Among title-IV aid recipients living on campus, grant and scholarship aid averaged $48,302.
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 | $11,289 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $13,871 |
| Over $75,000 | $47,452 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
The net price represents the average annual cost a title-IV-receiving student pays after grant aid is subtracted from the full cost of attendance.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $39,998 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $35,435 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try Tufts’s NPC: npc.collegeboard.org/app/tufts.
The median student at Tufts graduates with $15,043 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $15,043 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $16,250 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $172.28/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 percentiles below describe the cumulative federal debt distribution for borrowers at Tufts.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,950 |
| 25th percentile | $8,000 |
| 75th percentile | $22,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $25,500 |
How much a student borrows depends heavily on family income, first-gen status, and dependency.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $10,465 |
| Middle income | $15,000 |
| High income | $15,626 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,000 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,454 |
| Independent students | $12,500 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. Tufts.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at Tufts:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 21381 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,196,135,953 |
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.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 100 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $2,424,656 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $24,247 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 7 |
| Total DoD amount | $9,250 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $1,321 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.