NOTE: The information on this web page is provided as an introduction to financial aid for policymakers considering the related issues of financial aid and tuition.  If you are a student or a parent looking for information about financial aid, please click here.

Student Financial Aid at the University of Washington

Student Financial Aid Basics

Student Financial Aid comprises financial assistance from sources other than students and their families that is provided to students to help them meet the expenses of attending college.   Such assistance may be in the form of financial aid or financing aid.

Financial Aid consists of aid that, in effect, reduces the price of attendance for the student.  There are several types of financial aid.  Scholarships, grants, and fellowships usually take the form of cash awards that can be used to pay for the cost of education.  Waivers, on the other hand, exempt a student from paying all or part of tuition or fees.  Generally, a waiver does not involve the transfer of funds, but instead is income forgone by the University.  

Financing Aid consists of loans and work-study (subsidized employment).  This type of aid provides the student with assistance in the task of financing their education, in return for work or repayment at a future date.   The biggest student loan programs, Stafford and Perkins loans are federally financed. 

A student’s need is the difference between the price of attendance and the expected family contribution.

The price of attendance is defined as the total estimated expense to the student and student’s family associated with attending college during an academic year.  These costs are estimated using federal guidelines.  For AY 2005-06 the in-state resident undergraduate estimated student price of attendance at the University of Washington was:

                                        Traditional           Undergraduate

       Undergraduate           Living w/

         Parents

Tuition and Fees          $5,610                     $5,610

Books                                900                          900

Room and Board           7,164                       2,613

Personal Expenses        2,265                       2,265

Transportation                  396                          396

Total                           $16,335                   $11,784

The price of attendance used to determine a student’s need varies with a number of factors.   Living expenses specified are different for students living with parents as opposed to students living on campus, as they are for students with and without dependent children.  Books are expected to be somewhat more expensive for graduate students, and , similarly, tuition and fees may vary by student level, program of study, or residency.  Detailed information about the 2005-06 UW student budget is available here. 

A student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is determined using a standard federal methodology.  A student provides information and data about assets owned, income, family size and number of persons in college by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.  On the basis of the information provided, a Student Aid Report (SAR), specifying the amount of money a year that a student or student’s family is expected to provide towards education (the EFC), is produced  The SAR is then provided to both the student and the schools they have specified.

Student Financial Aid at the UW

Uses of Aid

There are two major goals that motivate the provision of student aid.  The first goal is to protect the economic diversity of the student body by ensuring that students are not excluded from participation because of their economic circumstances.  The second is to recruit students with specific traits, characteristics, or potential contributions.  As a result, some aid is awarded on the basis of economic need, some on the basis of student characteristics, and some on the basis of both need and characteristics.

Information about total aid disbursed to all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students can be found here.  Aid is divided, in the table shown, into six categories.  To understand this categorization, it must be noted that, since not all financial aid is awarded on the basis of need and since students can often borrow up to the level of their cost of attendance (which may be greater than need), students who do not demonstrate need may receive aid, and students with need may receive aid greater than the level of their need.  For this reason, aid will be divided into six types:

1.      Financial aid that meets need that is given to students with need

2.      Financing aid that meets need that is given to students with need

3.      Financial aid in excess of need that is given to students with need

4.      Financing aid in excess of need that is given to students with need

5.      Financial aid that is given to students who do not demonstrate need

6.      Financing aid that is given to students who do not demonstrate need

Need that is not met by either financial or financing aid disbursed to students is called unfunded need.  Students are not required to borrow money or participate in Work Study even if they are eligible to do so.  Thus, the level of unfunded need is influenced both by the amount of aid awarded to a student and a student’s decision about how much of the financing aid that is awarded that they choose to accept.

Aid Programs

The types of awards available varies with students' program of study and residency.  Click here to see the aid package of an "average composite student demonstrating need" for resident and non-resident students at each level of study (note that Work Study funds are not included).  No single student's aid package will look like this, but the average composite view shows the overall relative importance of different aid programs for students demonstrating need.  As can be seen, there is a far broader range of financial aid programs available to students than financing aid programs. 

Source of Aid

There are four major sources of both financial and financing aid: the federal government, state government, the university itself, and private donors.  Detailed information about the sources of aid for students at the University of Washington can be found here.