Student Financing of Postsecondary Education, With National and State Estimates

In 2017–18, 70 percent of all undergraduates received some type of financial aid (excluding private loans), and the average amount of aid received was $13,000. Among states with samples that support reporting, undergraduates in Hawaii had the lowest rate of financial aid receipt (52 percent), and undergraduates in North Carolina (87 percent) and Louisiana (86 percent) had the highest rates of financial aid receipt. A new National Center for Education Statistics report, 2017–18 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Administrative Collection (NPSAS:18-AC): First Look at Student Financial Aid Estimates for 2017–18, includes a national sample of undergraduate and graduate students, and state-level data for undergraduate students in 30 states. This report describes the percentages of students receiving various types of financial aid and average amounts received, by type of institution attended and institution state (for undergraduate students), and by type of institution, attendance pattern, graduate program, and income level (for graduate students). Some key findings from this report include: Seventy percent of undergraduates received some type of financial aid, 62 percent received grants, 39 percent took out student loans, 7 percent received work-study awards, 3 percent received federal veterans’ education benefits, and 5 percent had parents who took out federal Direct PLUS Loans. Fifty-nine percent of undergraduates received federal student aid, 25 percent received state aid, and 25 percent received aid from their institution. Forty-four percent of undergraduates received federal Pell Grants and 14 percent received federal campus-based aid. Thirty-nine percent of undergraduates took out subsidized or unsubsidized federal Direct Loans. Fifty-eight percent of graduate students received some type of financial aid. Twenty-six percent received grants, 3 percent received graduate assistantships, and 41 percent took out loans. Forty percent took out Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and 11 percent took out Direct graduate PLUS Loans. Federal Direct graduate PLUS Loans are unsubsidized loans for graduate students available in addition to Direct Unsubsidized Loans.