2008 Financial Aid Report Highlights
Executive Summary - The level of financial assistance for higher education in Arizona has increased along with the financial pressures on students. Total financial aid awarded to state university students has increased more than 47 percent over the last five academic years. Over the same period, the average undergraduate student debt upon graduation has increased to nearly $18,000. The largest source and type of financial aid awards in Fiscal Year 2008 came from student loans, approximately 44.9 percent, and the smallest source came from state funding, amounting to one percent.
- In Fiscal Year 2008, total financial aid from all sources in the University System amounted to $1.06 billion, an increase of $79.1 million, or 7.5 percent, over last year's level.
- Student loans and institutional aid, including tuition scholarships, account for the largest increases in the 2007-08 sources of aid.
- 94,625 students received some form of financial aid in FY 2008, an approximate 1.1 percent increase over FY 2007. This equates to approximately 77 percent of the total student body (122,731) in the Arizona University System.
- Financial aid is awarded to households at all income levels. The average financial aid package for a family with an annual household income of less than $20,000 was $11,603 while a household with a family income of $120,000 or more received an average aid package of $5,686.
- Given the increase in tuition and fees since academic year 2003-2004, the average amount of undergraduate debt has increased only 3 percent over the last 5 years. The average amount of graduate debt has increased 4.9 percent.
- The average percentage of need met for undergraduate students demonstrating need was 63 percent, leaving 37 percent of need unmet.
- In FY 2008, the average undergraduate student debt upon graduation was $17,572; the average graduate student debt upon graduation was $34,288.
Download Financial Aid Report FY 2008 PDF
