What Does It Cost to Attend Lafayette College?

According to a study conducted by Sallie Mae, 9 out of 10 American families view college as an investment in the student. Despite the overwhelming belief that college is an investment, very few families have a clear understanding of the cost of making an investment in college, much less the expected return. The same Sallie Mae study illuminated that only 40% of families have a plan to pay for college before their student enrolls.

When looking at well-respected private institutions such as Lafayette College, one thing immediately stands out: the cost. With a list price of more than $60,000 per year, even families with comfortable economic situations are prone to sticker shock. Before expense-induced anxiety sets in, did you know that most college students don’t pay the published price for college? If you didn’t, don’t be embarrassed—about one-fifth (19%) of American families with an undergraduate student didn’t know, either.

The list price of a college or university provides a good general idea of the expense of an institution, but to calculate what college will actually cost you out of pocket, you need to use net cost. Net cost accounts for any federal, state, or local aid given to a student, along with any institutional grants and/or merit aid scholarships awarded to a student, deducting them from the published price of the institution.

If Lafayette College is your dream school, keep reading and learn how to calculate its real cost, gain insight into some unforeseen expenses, and get an idea of what you can expect for a return on your investment in a Lafayette degree.

What Is the List Price at Lafayette College?

The list price for Lafayette College for both in- and out-of-state students in 2016-2017 was $66,105. That price includes the expense of tuition, room, and board. Keep in mind that most students do not pay full price for college. Typically, students who pay Lafayette’s list price are from wealthy families with annual incomes greater than $175,000 who fall outside the top 30% of applicants academically.

What Is the Price of Lafayette College With Financial Aid?

Financial aid net price is tabulated by deducting any financial aid a student receives, either from grants or scholarships, from the list price of a college. The average financial aid net cost of Lafayette College is $55,834 for both in- and out-of-state students.

Cost of Attending Lafayette College Based on Household Income

One of the primary variables affecting the net cost of college for a student is their family’s financial situation. In general, students coming to college from lower-income families will pay less than students from higher-earning families. These are the average net prices for a student attending Lafayette College based on household income:

What is the Merit Aid Net Price for Lafayette College?

Merit aid is not awarded on the basis of financial need; rather, students receive merit-based aid for achievement in a variety of fields both inside and outside of the classroom. Only 8.1% of students without financial need receive merit aid at Lafayette.

The average amount of merit aid given to students who don’t qualify for financial aid is $2,255, bringing the average net price of Lafayette for in- and out-of-state students who don’t qualify for financial aid to $63,850.

How Many Students Take Out Loans at Lafayette College?

Loans play an important role in many students’ strategies for paying for college. 57% of students attending Lafayette have student loans, with the average federal loan per undergraduate across four years coming in at $3,587.

Student Outcomes at Lafayette College

Student outcome is a great indicator of how a college will return on a student’s investment in it. As you would expect, a highly regarded school like Lafayette graduates the majority of its students—88% of Lafayette students graduate within six years, well above the national average of 60%.

Ten years after graduating from Lafayette, alumni earn an average annual salary of $68,600, which far surpasses the income of the average American ($48,600) and the average income of an Easton, Pennsylvania—home of Lafayette College—resident ($46,373). In fact, a salary of $68,600 even exceeds the average salary found in Philadelphia ($59,441), which is just 60 miles away, and falls in line with the average salary found in New York City ($69,517) just 70 miles away.

Local Area Cost Considerations

The cost of living index for Easton is 90.1, making it about 10% less expensive to live in than the national average. Cost of living is a theoretical number generated by calculating a collection of expenses—for example, housing, transportation, and utilities—to give an idea of the price of living in a particular area.  

Lafayette is a residential college and students are required to live on campus throughout the first three years of their undergraduate experience. A small selection of seniors (less than 15%) are allowed to live off campus, and most of those seniors reside in houses and apartments either owned or operated by the college. If you are one of the select few seniors with the privilege to live in private off-campus housing, you’ll find rent prices below the national average with rents ranging from $910 a month for a single-bedroom to $1,500 for a three-bedroom.  

The minimum wage in Pennsylvania is $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal minimum wage.  

What Are Other Ways to Save on College?

Scholarships offer an excellent opportunity for students to further save on college. Lafayette recognizes its most outstanding applicants with the Marquis Award. Typically, students awarded the Marquis Award graduated at the top of their class while pursuing the most demanding curriculum available with standardized test scores above the median of admitted students.

Lafayette also awards athletic scholarships to participants in eleven sports:

• Baseball
• Men’s and women’s basketball
• Women’s field hockey
• Football
• Men’s and women’s soccer
• Men’s and women’s lacrosse
• Softball
• Women’s volleyball

Students are chosen to receive an athletic scholarship based on athletic talents and their ability to meet Lafayette College’s high academic standards.

Lafayette also encourages students to look outside of the college for scholarship opportunities. One opportunity students who scored highly on the PSAT will want to consider is a National Merit Scholarship. One of the nation’s largest scholarship programs, the National Merit Scholarship Program is given to about 15,000 students a year who score in the top percentile on the PSAT/NMSQT. Interested in learning more about the National Merit Scholarship? Be sure to read our blog How to Qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Curious about your chances of acceptance to Lafayette College? Our free chancing engine takes into account your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and other data to predict your odds of acceptance at over 500 colleges across the U.S. We’ll also let you know how you stack up against other applicants and how you can improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to get started!