by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot 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 price of attendance at University of Southern Mississippi can feel overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students receive some sort of financial aid.
Just what financial aid solutions can Southern Miss deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep reading for answers. Keep going to see how much school funding could be available to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at University of Southern Mississippi.
Through a mix of loans, grants, work-study and scholarships, schools bring down the effective cost so more students can attend. 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 Southern Mississippi, 97% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid some 1648 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 95% | $10,900 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 67% | $8,334 |
| Federal Pell grants | 52% | $5,903 |
| State/local grants | 44% | $3,061 |
| Federal student loans | 50% | $5,156 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. At this school, around 83% of the undergraduate population received grant aid that averaged $10,055 (across roughly 8269 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 83% | $10,055 |
| Federal Pell grants | 46% | $5,808 |
| Federal student loans | 48% | $6,674 |
For on-campus title-IV students, average grant aid came to $4,858.
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 | $12,465 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $13,437 |
| Over $75,000 | $18,971 |
These figures reflect what title-IV aid recipients pay after grant and scholarship aid is applied.
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 | $21,708 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $14,224 |
For a personalized estimate based on your family’s financial situation, use Southern Miss’s net price calculator: www.usm.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator.php.
The median federal debt load at Southern Miss comes to $14,250 of federal student loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $14,250 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $22,500 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $238.54/mo |
Under a standard ten-year plan, the median graduate’s monthly payment lands near the figure above.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at Southern Miss.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,625 |
| 25th percentile | $6,500 |
| 75th percentile | $29,066 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $41,278 |
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 | $14,550 |
| Middle income | $14,000 |
| High income | $14,000 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $14,250 |
| Continuing-generation students | $14,291 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $13,000 |
| Independent students | $18,474 |
A handful of calculated indicators summarize the debt outlook at Southern Miss.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. Below is the annual Stafford program activity at Southern Miss:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 66355 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,628,474,762 |
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 | 444 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $3,086,949 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $6,953 |
DoD program volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 214 |
| Total DoD amount | $626,319 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,927 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.