Western Governors University Tuition and Financial Aid (2024)

This guide is designed to answer one question for you: How are you going to afford Western Governors University?

You probably know that planning for expenses is an important part of the college application process. What you may not know is how many different things you need to keep track of to pay tuition and apply for financial aid.

Here's what we'll cover:

• How much does Western Governors University tuition cost?
• How much financial aid do students at Western Governors University usually get?
• How much debt is typical for students at Western Governors University?
• How much will Western Governors University cost YOU, and can you actually afford it?
• Is Western Governors University a good value for you?
• What are other schools that might be a better value than Western Governors University?

By learning more about expenses and aid, you’re already on the right path to managing college costs. Let’s get started!

School location: Salt Lake City, UT

How Much Does Western Governors University Cost?

Knowing what a school costs is Step #1 in managing college costs. There’s more to think about than just the tuition—you also have to factor in where you'll live, what you'll eat, and more while attending Western Governors University.

The "Cost of Attendance" is the total amount of money the average student has to pay, WITHOUT any financial aid, to attend a particular school. Think of it as a school’s sticker price. It includes not just Western Governors University tuition and fees, but also room, board, textbooks, and personal expenses.

Here’s the Cost of Attendance breakdown for Western Governors University:

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How Much Financial Aid Do Students at Western Governors University Get?

The Cost of Attendance listed above might be intimidating. The good news is that most students don’t end up paying that full price to attend Western Governors University.Financial aid helps make up the difference between the Cost of Attendance and what families can actually afford.

Here we'll cover how many students get Western Governors University financial aid, what types of aid they get, and how much.

A Brief Intro to Financial Aid

Aid comes in many forms, including:

• Need-based grants
• Merit-based scholarships
• Student loans

This financial aid comes from a few different places:

• Federal aid comes from the federal government, or is subsidized by the federal government.
• Institutional aid comes from your school itself.

Generally, it’s better for MORE students to receive HIGH amounts of financial aid—this means students pay less for college.

Let’s take a look at how Western Governors University compares to other schools.

Overall Aid

Let's start with the overall numbers. At Western Governors University, we know that:

This is 8% HIGHER than the average for Private not-for-profit schools, which is 92%.

This is good news - more students getting financial aid means students at Western Governors University are likely getting a pretty good deal on their education. It could also mean the school skews toward lower income students.

Next, we'll look at actual aid amounts and student debt to dig deeper.

Grants and Scholarships

We’re focusing on grants and scholarships first because they’re the most important forms of financial aid. Grants and scholarships are better than loans because students don’t ever have to pay them back. The more grant/scholarship aid students receive at a particular school, the better off those students are in the long run.

At Western Governors University, we know that:

This is 41% LOWER than the average for Private not-for-profit schools, which is 89%.

Although it’s useful to know how many students get grant aid, it’s also important to know how much grant aid people tend to receive. The bigger the average grant award, the better.

So how much grant money do students at Western Governors University tend to receive?

This is $12076 LOWER than the average for Private not-for-profit schools, which is $16488.

Altogether, this is bad news - at Western Governors University, FEWER students get aid, and each aid grant is LESS than average. This is a double whammy that means students have to rely more on loans to pay for college.

How Much Debt is Typical for Students at Western Governors University?

Aside from grants, the other major way to pay for college is with student loans. Student loans aren’t free sums of money - you borrow a certain amount to attend Western Governors University, and then pay it back with smaller monthly payments after you graduate.

The more student loan money you borrow, the more debt you’ll end up with after graduation. Ideally, you want to minimize your student debt as much as possible. Less debt means less of a financial burden once you leave school.

It’s generally a bad sign if a school has many students taking out a lot of loans. This indicates that graduates have to worry about paying back big sums of money once they leave school.

To address the amount and type of debt that students take on, this section will cover:

• Loan Overview
• Federal Loans
• Other Loans

Let’s see what students at Western Governors University have to deal with:

Loan Overview

First, let’s talk about how many students at Western Governors University actually have to take out any student loans at all. The ideal goal is to graduate with little to no debt.

It’s very common for college grads in the US to graduate with some debt, but high percentages of students taking on loans at a particular school is a big red flag. In contrast, low percentages of students with loans is a sign that Western Governors University tuition is affordable.

So how many students actually end up taking out loans at Western Governors University?

This is 34% higher than the average for Private not-for-profit schools, which is 66%.

High numbers of students with loans is a red flag, and Western Governors University has a very high loan rate. Nearly every student has to take out loans to afford Western Governors University tuition and costs. This often means that the financial aid policy at the school is relatively weak, and grants aren't enough to cover total cost.

In the worst case, some schools, especially private for-profit colleges, provide subpar education for a very high cost. We'll talk more about this below.

To break this down further, we have to understand how much actual debt the average person takes out while in school. Next, we’ll look at student debt amounts.

Federal Loans

Now that you have a handle on the basic loan information for Western Governors University, we’ll get into some more nitty-gritty information on the types and amounts of loans that students typically have.

We’ll start with federal loans because, in general, federal loans are preferable to private loans. Federal loans tend to have low interest rates, which means they cost less in the long run. They may come with other perks (like subsidization or even options for loan forgiveness).

High percentages or amounts of federal loans still isn’t a great sign - again, you don’t want to see students burdened with too much debt. Generally, schools with strong financial aid programs will have students with more federal loans than private loans.

Let’s see how Western Governors University stacks up:

At Western Governors University, 100% of all students take out federal loans. This is 35% HIGHER than the average percent of students for Private not-for-profit schools, which is 65%.

At Western Governors University, the average annual federal loan amount is $4435. This amount is $1642 LESS than the average for Private not-for-profit schools, which is $6077.

What Would It Cost YOU to Attend Western Governors University?

Finally, we get to the bottom line: what will Western Governors University actually cost YOU? Every family has a different situation, and depending on your income level, you'll have to pay more or less to go to college.

What is Net Price, and Why Does it Matter?

Above, we've covered Western Governors University's Cost of Attendance (tuition, room and board, books, and more). We also covered its typical financial aid in grants, loans, and scholarships.

The Net Price is the total cost minus the total aid given. In other words, this is the price you have to pay to the school out of pocket. The lower the school's cost, and the more aid you get, the lower the Net Price.

We'll cover two ways to get your Net Price for Western Governors University - the fast way, and the precise way.

Net Price: The Quick and Easy Way

If you want a quick, general idea of your annual Net Price at Western Governors University, here's a handy chart showing the net price of real students. All you need is your family income.

Note that these values may be a few years old, and today's prices may be a bit higher.

As we'll discuss next, your exact Net Price will depend on other factors like the number of family members and total assets, but this represents the typical Net Price.

Net Price: The Most Accurate Method

Most schools have an updated Net Price calculator available. To find it, just google "Western Governors University Net Price Calculator" - the official tool should be one of the top search results.

Often the school will ask for more information than just income:

• The number of people in your household
• The number of family members in college
• Parental wages, income, and assets
• Student wages, income, and assets

This will take 10-15 minutes to complete, and you'll get a specific net price that's more accurate than the table above.

Can You Afford to Attend Western Governors University?

Once you have a Net Price estimate, you’ll want to figure out whether your family can afford to pay Western Governors University tuition and costs. Once again, the Net Price is the total cost of attending, minus the aid you can expect to get (grants and scholarships). It's the amount you'd have to cover yourself.

The US government has come up with a standardized way to calculate how much a typical family can afford to pay without help. They call this the Expected Family Contribution, or EFC.

As an example, a family that brings home $80,000 in income before taxes, with no assets and no other children in college, has an EFC of around $7,000. This is the amount the government thinks that family can reasonably pay, and the school will have to step in and cover the rest.

Colleges use this number as a guideline to decide how much aid to give you, but it's just a guideline. Some schools will be stingier with aid, and you'll have to pay more than the government's suggested EFC.

So we're going to calculate your EFC and compare it to Western Governors University's Net Price. If the Net Price is higher than the EFC, the school will cost more than you can typically afford. It's a simple equation:

Net Price - Expected Family Contribution = Deficit (extra cost you would need to cover)

We've constructed a simple tool to figure out whether Western Governors University is affordable for you:

Finally: Is This Price Really Worth It?

Chances are, college won't be cheap. Even if you have a few top choice schools in mind like Western Governors University, it's still useful to explore broadly.

A few questions to ponder:

• How much better off will you be if you attend Western Governors University as opposed to a similar, but cheaper, school?
• Have you considered a range of private and public schools? Big and small?
• What if you didn't attend college at all? (This is extreme, but just worth considering even for a second.

These are the big picture questions to consider when we talk about the value of a college education.

Here's our take: college will be a really important stage in your development. Going to a better, more reputable college will usually pay off in the long run. By going to a better college, you'll be surrounded by a more interesting community, find it easier to land a job, and open up opportunities.

To determine the value of Western Governors University, we're going to rely on reputable ranking lists. These consider factors like reputation, student selectivity, income after graduating, and more to determine the value of a school.

So how does Western Governors University stack up?

What Other Schools Should You Consider?

Your next step should be to get a better idea of costs and aid availability at similar schools. If you’re interested in Western Governors University, you should check out some other high-value schools that could give you more bang for your buck. Get started here to check both in-state and out-of-state schools that might provide a better value.

Finally, we're going to look at schools that might offer a better value than Western Governors University. To compile this list, we first find schools at similar academic levels, so you have a similar chance at getting in. Then we select schools that better value for you, by being more affordable or having a higher quality of education