by our College Data Analytics TeamMany students will not be asked to pay 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 University of California-Santa Cruz can feel overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students receive some sort of financial aid.
Just what financial assistance solutions will UC Santa Cruz deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Read on for answers. Keep reading to learn how much school funding will be available to you.
The amount of financial aid you can receive varies from person to person and will depend on your family’s economic situation. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from University of California-Santa Cruz.
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. Bear in mind that not all aid is equal, and the amount any one student receives can vary widely.
At University of California-Santa Cruz, 64% of entering full-time freshmen got some type of financial assistance (about 2815 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 57% | $22,774 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 49% | $10,857 |
| Federal Pell grants | 28% | $5,862 |
| State/local grants | 47% | $13,005 |
| Federal student loans | 29% | $4,641 |
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 UC Santa Cruz, around 61% of the undergraduate population received grant aid that averaged $21,866 (among about 10847 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 61% | $21,866 |
| Federal Pell grants | 32% | $5,665 |
| Federal student loans | 28% | $5,732 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $23,289.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $9,726 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $11,457 |
| Over $75,000 | $27,589 |
Each amount is the average cost remaining once grant aid is subtracted, by income band.
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 | $17,890 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $17,007 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see UC Santa Cruz’s NPC: www2.ucsc.edu/finaidcalc/.
Graduating students at UC Santa Cruz carry a median federal student debt of $14,334 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $14,334 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $16,666 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $176.69/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 UC Santa Cruz.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,700 |
| 25th percentile | $8,900 |
| 75th percentile | $25,512 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $29,410 |
The figures below break down median federal debt by income tier, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $14,710 |
| Middle income | $14,876 |
| High income | $13,080 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,333 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,362 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $14,000 |
| Independent students | $16,500 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for UC Santa Cruz.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The totals below capture Stafford lending at UC Santa Cruz:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 40865 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $641,552,402 |
Veterans and active-duty service members may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or DoD Tuition Assistance.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 23 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $195,399 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $8,496 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 0 |
| Total DoD amount | $0 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.