by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of students will never be charged 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 University of California-Riverside can seem overpowering, but remember that the majority of students are given some form of financial assistance.
What financing options does UCR offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep going to learn what amount of financial assistance will be accessible to you.
The amount of financial aid and scholarships you are eligible for will vary depending on your family’s income. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at University of California-Riverside.
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.
Looking at the entering class at University of California-Riverside, 80% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid roughly 4402 freshmen).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 76% | $24,355 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 64% | $9,934 |
| Federal Pell grants | 48% | $5,955 |
| State/local grants | 67% | $13,021 |
| Federal student loans | 34% | $4,627 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. At UCR, around 74% of undergraduates were awarded an average grant or scholarship of $21,726 (covering around 16712 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 74% | $21,726 |
| Federal Pell grants | 47% | $6,120 |
| Federal student loans | 31% | $5,429 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $24,638.
The figures below show the average net price — cost after all grant and scholarship aid — broken out by family income.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $8,768 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $10,967 |
| Over $75,000 | $24,708 |
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 | $14,304 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $14,107 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see UCR’s NPC: netpricecalculator.ucr.edu/.
The middle student in the debt distribution at UCR owes $14,944 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $14,944 |
| 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.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. The figures below chart the debt distribution at UCR.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,202 |
| 25th percentile | $7,833 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,056 |
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 | $13,757 |
| Middle income | $14,750 |
| High income | $15,449 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,034 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,771 |
| Independent students | $15,464 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for UCR.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at UCR:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 55208 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $991,173,464 |
Military-affiliated students can tap the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 98 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $1,482,664 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $15,129 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 1 |
| Total DoD amount | $3,334 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $3,334 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.