by our College Data Analytics TeamMost 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 sum total of attendance at University of the Southwest can sound overpowering, but remember that the majority of students get some type of financial assistance.
What financing options does USW offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep scrolling to see just how much financial aid could be open to you.
Eligibility for aid and scholarships is driven mostly by your household’s income and need. The figures below will help you estimate the aid you might receive from University of the Southwest.
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. Some kinds of aid are clearly preferable to others, and outcomes differ across students.
For freshmen starting at University of the Southwest, 100% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind (about 89 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 99% | $10,436 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 97% | $7,379 |
| Federal Pell grants | 56% | $5,460 |
| State/local grants | 1% | $625 |
| Federal student loans | 63% | $5,327 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. At USW, approximately 93% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $11,278 (covering around 314 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 93% | $11,278 |
| Federal Pell grants | 55% | $5,404 |
| Federal student loans | 64% | $6,237 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $11,283.
Because need-based aid scales with family income, what students actually pay differs sharply across income brackets.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $17,952 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $20,312 |
| Over $75,000 | $23,025 |
These figures reflect what title-IV aid recipients pay after grant and scholarship aid is applied.
The net price strips out grant and scholarship aid from the sticker price to show roughly what families really pay.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $16,927 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $19,969 |
To get a personalized net price estimate, try USW’s net price calculator: www.usw.edu/admissions/sfaid/cost-of-attendance/net-price-calculator.
A typical borrower at USW leaves with $14,000 of federal student loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $14,000 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $21,303 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $225.85/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
The numbers below show the full range, not just the middle of the distribution. The percentiles below describe the cumulative federal debt distribution for borrowers at USW.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $2,750 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $20,889 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $15,863 |
| Middle income | $14,500 |
| High income | $13,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $15,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $11,026 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $12,000 |
| Independent students | $23,000 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at USW.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. The totals below capture Stafford lending at USW:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 4986 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $138,218,378 |
Military-affiliated students can tap the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 26 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $224,057 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $8,618 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.