What Does it Cost to Attend Wofford College?

When it comes to paying for college, many families anticipate that saving and budgeting will be difficult. What many families don’t anticipate is that simply predicting exactly what your out of pocket costs will be can be even more difficult. As college costs rise, more and more families are qualifying for financial aid and taking advantage of scholarships and merit aid awards. While these funds certainly help, they can be difficult to estimate ahead of time, making planning for college costs difficult.

In this series of posts, we at CollegeVine are analyzing the real costs of attending hundreds of colleges across the country. In this post, we take a closer look at Wofford College and fill you in on the details you need to help you predict just how much your family would spend for a  Wofford College education.

Why Are College Costs So Variable?

The amounts that families spend on college range enormously, from nothing at all to hundreds of thousands of dollars. How much your family will spend depends on a number of different factors. Because these factors can combine in nearly countless ways, it is hard to reduce college costs down to a single formula, but learning about the factors which determine out-of-pocket costs can help to shed light on the subject.

One primary factor in college costs is a college’s list price. The list price, sometimes also referred to as a sticker price, is the amount that a family would pay out of pocket to attend that school without any kind of financial assistance. A list price generally includes things like tuition, room and board, and necessary fees. At some schools where the population is made up primarily of commuter students, the list price may exclude specific costs like room and board, though, so you should always confirm exactly what’s included when you compare list prices to one another.

While list price is a helpful starting point when you begin to anticipate college costs, most families do not actually pay the full list price. Net cost is the amount that a family pays out of pocket to attend a certain school, and it varies depending on how much a family receives in the form of institutional aid, merit aid, and federal, state, and local aid. The average net cost at a college will provide a clearer picture of how much families actually pay to attend that school.

What is the List Price at Wofford College?

The list price at Wofford College for the 2016-2017 school year was $55,534. Because Wofford is a private university, there is no discounted list price for in-state students, however, most students do not pay the full list price. Only students with a combined annual family income of $175k or more would typically pay the full list price.

What is the Net Cost of Attending Wofford College?

Many Wofford students qualify for financial aid, merit aid, or both. The net cost for students with financial needs to attend Wofford after receiving financial aid is $47,776. The net cost for students without financial needs of is $43,572 after receiving merit aid.

What Is the Net Cost Based on Income of Attending Wofford College?

The amount of financial aid that a family receives is primarily dependent on that family’s income, so looking at net cost as broken by income levels can be helpful. In the case of Wofford College, net cost breaks down as follows.

How Much Merit Aid is Typically Awarded at Wofford College?

Merit aid is commonly awarded to students at Wofford College. In 2017, 70.6% of students without financial needs received merit aid. The average merit aid award was $11,962. This placed Wofford at 289th in the pool over 1000 schools we analyzed for merit aid generosity.

How Many Students Take Out Loans to Attend Wofford College?

Loans are also a common piece of the funding formula at Wofford College. In the 2016-2017 school year 71% of students had loans. The average federal student loan per undergraduate student at Wofford was $4,632.

Student Outcomes

College represents a significant upfront expense for many families, but thinking of it as a long-term investment in increased earning potential is a smart move. Student outcomes at specific colleges can help you to frame your thinking around the potential return on your investment.

At Wofford College, 80% of students who begin a degree complete it within six years. The average salary for graduates ten years out is $51,500.

Local Area Cost Considerations

The traditional college costs are only some of the expenses that you’ll encounter during the course of a four year degree. Inevitably there will be other costs likely associated with transportation, groceries, or even off campus housing. Checking out the local economy is a smart idea.

Wofford College is located in Spartanburg, SC. The cost of living index in Spartanburg is 84.6, meaning it is roughly 15% more affordable than the national average. Groceries and transportation cost slightly less than average there, but affordable housing prices are the largest contributor to the low cost of living. Students living off campus would pay roughly $572/month for a studio apartment or $1052/month for a three bedroom.

The job market in Spartanburg is decent. Unemployment rates hover around the national average, and while recent job growth has been below average, it’s projected to slightly exceed the national average in coming years. Minimum wage in South Carolina is currently set at the federal minimum of $7.25/hr but lawmakers are considering a bill that would raise it to $12/hr by 2023.

Other Ways to Pay for College

Scholarships are another great way to supplement your college funds. The largest scholarship program in the country is the National Merit Scholarship Program. This program attracts over a million participants each year who qualify as high school juniors simply by taking the PSAT. Awards are distributed based on PSAT scores. Other awards are also given for PSAT scores, including those sponsored by the National Hispanic Recognition Program and specific corporations or colleges. To learn more about the program, check out our post How to Qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Many other scholarship programs exist as well. Some are large and search nationally for accomplished students with a variety of talents; others are smaller and search only for local students or those with more specific skill sets. You can learn more about some of the programs that your student may qualify for by checking out these CollegeVine posts:

• 15 College Scholarships for High School Juniors
• 15 College Scholarship Resources for High School Students
• A Guide to STEM Scholarships
• Scholarships and Competitions for students in the Performing Arts

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!