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 sum total of attendance at Western Colorado University can sound overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students get some type of financial aid.
Just what financial assistance solutions will Western deliver, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Read on for answers. Keep reading to learn what amount of financial assistance will be accessible to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from Western Colorado 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.
Looking at the entering class at Western Colorado University, 96% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid approximately 402 students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 93% | $8,425 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 86% | $5,942 |
| Federal Pell grants | 27% | $5,337 |
| State/local grants | 28% | $4,064 |
| Federal student loans | 46% | $4,601 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. Across the undergraduate body at Western, approximately 43% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $9,574 (across approximately 1550 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 43% | $9,574 |
| Federal Pell grants | 12% | $4,948 |
| Federal student loans | 20% | $8,322 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $9,311.
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 | $10,338 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $13,437 |
| Over $75,000 | $20,514 |
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 | $16,425 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $16,773 |
To project your own net price, use Western’s NPC: western.edu/admissions-aid/tuition-costs/net-price-calculator/.
The median federal debt load at Western comes to $12,000 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $12,000 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $20,250 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $214.68/mo |
The 10-year payment estimate assumes a standard federal repayment plan and the median graduate debt amount.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The figures below chart the debt distribution at Western.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $3,250 |
| 25th percentile | $5,500 |
| 75th percentile | $22,500 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $30,500 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $12,500 |
| Middle income | $14,250 |
| High income | $11,250 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $12,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $12,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $11,785 |
| Independent students | $16,892 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at Western.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at Western:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 7967 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $128,297,998 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 36 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $387,793 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $10,772 |
Active-duty Tuition Assistance recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 4 |
| Total DoD amount | $15,243 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $3,811 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.