by our College Data Analytics TeamMany 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 price of attendance at University of Dubuque can feel overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students receive some sort of financial aid.
Just what financial aid solutions can UD provide, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep reading for answers. Read on to find out 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. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from University of Dubuque.
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 University of Dubuque, 100% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid (about 320 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $27,758 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 100% | $24,766 |
| Federal Pell grants | 34% | $6,090 |
| State/local grants | 12% | $7,244 |
| Federal student loans | 74% | $6,334 |
Because grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid, they are the most sought-after type of financial aid. At UD, some 92% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $24,637 (for some 1352 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 92% | $24,637 |
| Federal Pell grants | 40% | $5,284 |
| Federal student loans | 70% | $7,757 |
For on-campus title-IV students, average grant aid came to $30,420.
Since aid is largely need-based, the real cost of attendance falls steeply for lower-income families.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $17,761 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $20,442 |
| Over $75,000 | $25,683 |
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 | $23,386 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $23,250 |
To project your own net price, use UD’s net price calculator: www.dbq.edu/admission/financialaid/netpricecalculator/NP-Calc.html.
The median student at UD graduates with $17,070 of federal borrowing.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $17,070 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $25,750 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $272.99/mo |
The 10-year payment estimate assumes a standard federal repayment plan and the median graduate debt amount.
The median alone does not show how widely outcomes vary across the student body. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at UD.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,750 |
| 25th percentile | $7,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,130 |
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 | $14,290 |
| Middle income | $18,790 |
| High income | $19,250 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $16,121 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,830 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $18,500 |
| Independent students | $14,250 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. UD.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at UD:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 9030 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $186,403,717 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 43 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $1,001,583 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $23,293 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 10 |
| Total DoD amount | $31,250 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $3,125 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.