On average, undergraduates receive $15,000 in financial aid, which is a blend of grants and scholarships, work-study, and student loans.
Your personal financial aid amount will depend on mostly two things: first, how much your family can afford to pay, and second, how much your college costs.
The FAFSA® automatically calculates your Student Aid Index (SAI), which is how much the government thinks your household can pay out of pocket each school year, towards your college expenses. You’ll likely get an email from the FAFSA® with this SAI figure.
From there, here’s what colleges do: Colleges calculate the full Cost of Attendance, minus your SAI. And then they try to offer you aid for some or all of the difference. So let’s say college costs $50k per year and your EFC is $10k. You need to cough up another $40k (that your family can’t afford) to pay for college. To limit your student loans, your college and the federal government, will likely offer you $20k-$40k in financial aid. This “financial aid” is a combination of government grants, college scholarships, work-study job earnings, and low-interest federal loans.
Lastly, remember that some colleges may also provide you with merit-based scholarships, in addition to need-based financial aid.