What Does it Cost to Attend Middlebury College?

With college costs rising, financial concerns are among those most often cited by parents undergoing the college application process with their high schoolers. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the percentage of college students receiving financial aid is on the rise. In 2016, it reached 85% and continues to move upward. This should come as no surprise as CNN reported that the average family could expect to pay $104,400 for a four-year degree from a private university in 2016.

While funding a college education is a primary concern for many families, planning for the costs of college is often easier said than done. There are so many factors that play a role in how much a family can expect to pay that predicting exact costs can be extremely difficult. In this series, we analyze over a 1,000 colleges to help predict how much a family can expect to spend. To learn more about how much you can expect to spend at Middlebury College, don’t miss this post.

Why Are College Costs So Variable?

There are many different factors that come into play when we talk about how much you can expect to spend on college. Some of them are specific to your family. Others are specific to the colleges your student wants to attend. Because it’s rare for every one of these factors to line up in exactly the same way from one family to the next, and consequently it’s also rare for any two families to pay exactly the same amount.

The first factor that affects how much you pay for college is a college’s list price. Often referred to as the “sticker price,” this price usually reflects your all-in cost without any types of aid or scholarship. Typically, this price includes tuition, room and board, and other fees, but sometimes at schools with a high percentage of commuter students, it may not include room and board. You should always know exactly what a sticker price includes when you’re referring to this metric.

Net cost is the other term that you will often hear tossed around in discussions about college expenses. Net cost is the amount that a family actually pays out of pocket after grants or scholarships are applied. Average net cost depends entirely on three factors. These are institutional aid, merit aid, and federal, state, and local aid. Because these factors vary significantly from one family to the next, it’s difficult to predict exactly how much you’ll spend on college, but arming yourself with more information about each form of aid, especially how they pertain to specific schools, will help you to make a more accurate prediction.

What is the List Price of Middlebury College?

At Middlebury College, the list price is $66,332. Because it is a private university, this list price applies to all students, regardless of their state of residence.

Few students actually pay the list price, though. Instead, the majority receive some type of financial assistance. Those who can expect to pay the list price are generally from wealthier families with an annual income of $175k or more.

What is the Net Cost of Attending Middlebury College?

After accounting for federal, state, local, and institutional aid, most students at Middlebury pay less than the list price. In fact, the average net cost of attending Middlebury is $55,576.

For students who don’t qualify for financial aid, the average net cost at Middlebury College is $66,275.

What Is the Cost Based on Income of Attending Middlebury?

The single most important factor in how much a family can expect to pay for college is their income level. For this reason, it’s helpful to breakdown the average net cost according to income. In the table that follows, you’ll find the breakdown for net cost by family income at Middlebury.

How Much Merit Aid is Typically Awarded at Middlebury?

It is rare for the most selective colleges in the country to award any amount of merit aid due to the talent of these applicant pools. Middlebury is no different. Although 16% of students received some type of merit aid, the amount is usually small. The average merit aid for a student without other need-based forms of financial aid is just $57.

This places Middlebury at 905th in the pool over 1000 schools we analyzed for merit aid generosity.

How Many Students Take Out Loans to Attend Middlebury?

With average net prices that are generally lower than many comparable schools, Middlebury also has a lower percentage of students taking out loans to help their educations. At Middlebury, just 19% of students take out a loan. The average federal student loan per undergrad student at Middlebury is just $2,505.

Student Outcomes

Because paying for college is a hefty financial commitment, it can be helpful to think of it as an investment in your future. This makes sense because college graduates generally have a much higher earning potential over their lifetimes than people without college degrees.

Student outcomes give you some idea of what kind of return you can expect on your investment. At Middlebury, 92% of students graduate within six years, and their ten year average salary out of college is $58,200. 

Local Area Cost Considerations

The amount that you can expect to send off in college tuition payments is only one part of your total spending over four years of college. There will be plenty of other costs associated with your education, such as travel if your student studies in a new state or region, and these costs can be significant when added up over time.

The cost of living in Middlebury, Vermont is slightly higher than the national average. Middlebury, VT has a cost of living index of 110.6, meaning that it is roughly 10% more expensive than the national average. High costs of groceries, utilities, and housing are top contributors to this.

That being said, rentals in Middlebury tend to be fairly affordable due to the relatively high number (5%) of vacant homes. A studio apartment in Middlebury rents for about $700 per month, while a three-bedroom unit goes for around $1,250.

The job market in Middlebury is also rather promising for a student looking to offset some of their education expenses. There is a lower than average unemployment rate and positive job market growth predicted. The minimum wage in Vermont is  $10.78/hr, but it will rise to $15/hr by 2024. The average hourly wage in Vermont is a healthy $23.48.

Other Ways to Help Fund a College Education

Need-based financial aid is just one way to help fund a college education. Seeking out scholarships is another way that students can help to fund their educations, and with a bit of time, planning and effort, students can impact their scholarship and merit aid eligibility much more directly than their grant and loan amounts. Students who want to apply for merit aid need to achieve in and out of the classroom, and need to know where to look for scholarship opportunities.

One of the most renowned scholarship programs in the country is the National Merit Scholarship Program. Through this program, every high school junior who takes the PSAT can be eligible to earn scholarships based on his or her test scores. Some students can also qualify for other scholarships through this program, such as the National Hispanic Recognition Program or special awards sponsored by corporations or individual colleges.

Many other scholarship programs exist too, on all levels from local to national and everything in between. You can learn more about accessing other college scholarships by reading these CollegeVine posts:

• 15 College Scholarships for High School Juniors
• 15 College Scholarship Resources for High School Students
• A Guide to STEM Scholarships

Curious about your chances of acceptance to your dream school? 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!