by our College Data Analytics TeamMany students are not billed the advertised price of a school. Instead, they will be provided a financial aid package that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The total price of attendance at University of Massachusetts-Amherst can feel overpowering, but remember that the majority of students receive some sort of financial assistance.
Just what financing solutions does UMass Amherst deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep scrolling for answers. Read on to find out how much school funding will be available to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Colleges use loans, grants, scholarships and work-study to minimize what students actually pay out of pocket. 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 Massachusetts-Amherst, 89% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid roughly 4696 freshmen).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 81% | $13,110 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 80% | $10,208 |
| Federal Pell grants | 18% | $5,574 |
| State/local grants | 24% | $5,465 |
| Federal student loans | 45% | $5,309 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. Here, some 73% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $13,764 (across roughly 17358 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 73% | $13,764 |
| Federal Pell grants | 20% | $5,285 |
| Federal student loans | 47% | $6,459 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $12,166.
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 | $12,022 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $15,165 |
| Over $75,000 | $29,678 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
Net price is the average annual cost after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the published cost of attendance — the figure closest to what a typical aid-receiving student actually pays.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $22,383 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $23,691 |
To project your own net price, use UMass Amherst’s official net price calculator: www.umass.edu/net_price_calculator/.
The median student at UMass Amherst graduates with $20,000 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $20,000 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $22,763 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $241.33/mo |
Spreading the median graduate debt over a standard 10-year repayment schedule works out to roughly the monthly payment shown above.
The median alone does not show how widely outcomes vary across the student body. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at UMass Amherst.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $11,500 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,500 |
Outcomes differ by income bracket, by first-generation status, and by whether a student is financially dependent.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,000 |
| Middle income | $21,250 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,015 |
| Independent students | $18,750 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. UMass Amherst.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at UMass Amherst:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 74260 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,334,961,399 |
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 | 244 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $2,935,869 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $12,032 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 15 |
| Total DoD amount | $36,250 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,417 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.