by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of students will not be asked to pay 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 cost of going to Virginia Commonwealth University can seem overpowering, but remember that the majority of students are given some form of financial assistance.
What financial aid options can VCU offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Scroll down 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. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from Virginia Commonwealth University.
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. Keep in mind that certain forms of assistance are more beneficial than others, and aid amounts differ from student to student.
For freshmen starting at Virginia Commonwealth University, 92% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid roughly 4149 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 88% | $14,186 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 81% | $8,038 |
| Federal Pell grants | 35% | $5,916 |
| State/local grants | 49% | $7,712 |
| Federal student loans | 41% | $5,296 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. At this school, around 70% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $13,626 (across approximately 14828 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 70% | $13,626 |
| Federal Pell grants | 31% | $5,605 |
| Federal student loans | 39% | $6,556 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $15,521.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $13,154 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $15,151 |
| Over $75,000 | $25,866 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
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 | $23,433 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $19,452 |
For a personalized estimate based on your family’s financial situation, use VCU’s net price tool: sfs.vcu.edu/tuition-and-fees/estimate-your-tuition-and-fees/.
Graduating students at VCU carry a median federal student debt of $17,021 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $17,021 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $21,500 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $227.94/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
A single median figure conceals how much debt outcomes differ student to student. These percentiles trace how cumulative federal debt is spread among borrowers at VCU.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,500 |
| 25th percentile | $7,750 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $33,000 |
The figures below break down median federal debt by income tier, first-generation status, and dependency.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,000 |
| Middle income | $17,500 |
| High income | $15,750 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $17,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $15,750 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $16,000 |
| Independent students | $21,640 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for VCU.
The Stafford loan program is the largest source of federal direct loans to undergraduates. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at VCU:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 89639 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $2,645,570,255 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 722 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $10,579,305 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $14,653 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 29 |
| Total DoD amount | $74,750 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,578 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.