Financial Aid Trends for U.S. colleges

No Change

Received Percent Changed

$4,395

Received Amount Changes

For the academic year 2023-2024, 73% of students received grants and/or scholarships and its average aid amount is $14,918.

Compared to the percent of received 10 years ago, similar percent of students received the financial aid. The average financial aid amount has increased from $10,010 to $14,405 at U.S. colleges.

All Undergraduate Students Financial Aid Over Time

The following table and chart show the trends of financial aid for all undergraduate students at U.S. colleges since 2014. For that period, the average number of students who received grants aid/scholarships is 7,478,267, which is 74.33 % of all undergraduate students.

4,590,794 students which is 52.56% of undergraduate students received federal student loans and the average loan amount: $7,006.

YearGrant or Scholarship*Pell GrantsFederal Student Loans
Number Received (percent**)Average AmountNumber Received (percent**)Average AmountNumber Received (percent**)Average Amount
2014-157,518,386 (74%)$10,0104,334,984 (46%)$4,0255,395,146 (59%)$7,296
2015-167,382,539 (73%)$10,4864,129,014 (43%)$4,0785,158,215 (57%)$7,211
2016-177,313,686 (73%)$10,8443,974,010 (42%)$4,1045,025,436 (56%)$7,180
2017-187,335,780 (73%)$11,6143,994,342 (42%)$4,3484,869,889 (55%)$7,109
2018-197,327,795 (73%)$12,3103,922,012 (41%)$4,4994,653,429 (53%)$6,956
2019-207,648,004 (75%)$12,7523,860,499 (40%)$4,5764,483,417 (51%)$6,911
2020-217,619,219 (76%)$13,1103,632,527 (38%)$4,7064,093,998 (49%)$6,863
2021-227,892,848 (78%)$13,8483,540,026 (38%)$4,7533,868,417 (47%)$6,779
2022-237,266,143 (74%)$14,4053,454,160 (37%)$5,0223,769,198 (46%)$6,746
Average7,478,267 (74.33%)$12,1533,871,286 (40.78%)$4,4574,590,794 (52.56%)$7,006
*Grant or scholarship aid includes aid received, from the federal government, state or local government, the institution, and other sources known by the institution.
**percentage of number of students receiving aids among all undergraduate students.

Freshmen (First-time, Full-time Undergraduate) Financial Aid Over Time

Over the past 10 years, on average, 1,416,327 (85.11 % of students) received grants or scholarships and its average amount is $13,738. It can cover 72.19% of tuition & fees ($19,029) based on out-of-state rate. In addition, 842,966 (58.44 % of students) students get helped from the students loans (average amount : $7,138).

Year Grants or Scholarships*Student Loans
Number Received (percent**)Average AmountNumber Received (percent**)Average Amount
2014-151,369,157 (84%)$11,155936,418 (64%)$7,062
2015-161,363,903 (83%)$11,938907,815 (62%)$6,989
2016-171,375,218 (83%)$12,477910,851 (61%)$7,098
2017-181,409,519 (84%)$13,263899,150 (61%)$7,075
2018-191,433,584 (85%)$13,907880,984 (59%)$7,094
2019-201,477,508 (87%)$14,512841,298 (58%)$7,216
2020-211,393,743 (86%)$14,814716,690 (54%)$7,088
2021-221,466,872 (88%)$15,493745,466 (54%)$7,167
2022-231,457,437 (86%)$16,080748,025 (53%)$7,453
Average1,416,327 (85.11%)$13,738842,966 (58.44%)$7,138
*Grant or scholarship aid includes aid received, from the federal government, state or local government, the institution, and other sources known by the institution.
**Percentage of number of students receiving aids among all undergraduate students.

The following table shows the trends of grants or scholarships over time. Over the past 10 years, on average, 660,070 (47.11 % of students) received Pell (federal) grants and its average amount is $4,769. In addition, 587,297 students received State/local government grants/scholarships (34.78 % of students).

YearFederal (Pell) GrantsOther Federal State/Local governmentInstitutional
Number Received (percent)Average AmountNumber Received (percent)Average Amount Number Received (percent)Average AmountNumber Received (percent)Average Amount
2014-15697,333 (51%)$4,361196,147 (19%)$1,153589,958 (35%)$3,243973,838 (64%)$8,819
2015-16673,551 (49%)$4,411195,321 (20%)$1,168576,181 (34%)$3,342994,790 (65%)$9,338
2016-17664,605 (47%)$4,437196,185 (19%)$1,175573,033 (34%)$3,4751,019,739 (66%)$9,952
2017-18689,446 (48%)$4,622205,083 (19%)$1,214602,838 (35%)$3,6311,055,205 (67%)$10,498
2018-19687,665 (48%)$4,778213,774 (20%)$1,247614,817 (35%)$3,7381,086,059 (68%)$11,060
2019-20677,506 (47%)$4,900580,322 (39%)$1,332609,731 (36%)$3,8641,101,438 (69%)$11,383
2020-21603,341 (45%)$5,017596,141 (41%)$1,503566,563 (35%)$3,9161,082,779 (70%)$11,860
2021-22614,085 (45%)$5,064701,085 (43%)$1,792556,558 (34%)$4,0591,131,312 (72%)$12,406
2022-23633,100 (44%)$5,332279,699 (23%)$1,410595,993 (35%)$4,3921,183,513 (73%)$12,923
Average660,070 (47.11%)$4,769351,529 (27.00%)$1,333587,297 (34.78%)$3,7401,069,853 (68.22%)$10,915

The following table describes number of students and average amount of loans by loan type. The following table shows the trends of grants or scholarships over time. Over the past 10 years, on average, 842,966 (58.44 % of students) get any students loan help and its average loan amount is $842,966.

YearTotalFederal student loansOther student loans
Number Received (percent)Average AmountNumber Received (percent)Average AmountNumber Received (percent)Average Amount
2014-15936,418 (64%)$7,062922,182 (64%)$6,102106,531 (9%)$10,909
2015-16907,815 (62%)$6,989891,303 (61%)$5,838114,514 (10%)$11,370
2016-17910,851 (61%)$7,098893,852 (60%)$5,851119,863 (10%)$11,665
2017-18899,150 (61%)$7,075882,780 (60%)$5,771123,825 (10%)$11,857
2018-19880,984 (59%)$7,094861,742 (58%)$5,614141,326 (11%)$12,250
2019-20841,298 (58%)$7,216821,615 (57%)$5,587138,083 (11%)$12,791
2020-21716,690 (54%)$7,088697,403 (53%)$5,548107,738 (9%)$13,300
2021-22745,466 (54%)$7,167726,073 (53%)$5,441118,369 (10%)$14,121
2022-23748,025 (53%)$7,453726,395 (52%)$5,467126,842 (10%)$14,588
Average842,966 (58.44%)$7,138824,816 (57.56%)$5,691121,899 (10.00%)$12,539