Cost & financial aid brief
Keene State College Tuition, Costs & Financial Aid
How much does Keene State College cost after financial aid?
Aid lowers the listed cost for the average recipient, with lower-income bands showing lower average net prices than upper-income bands. Against a published cost of $29,993, the average net price is $17,887, leaving a sticker-to-net gap of $12,106.
Aid covers about 40% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The band averages move from $12,192 in the lowest income band to $22,928 in the highest, with $12,536, $16,045, and $18,004 in between.
That ordering shows lower average prices at lower family incomes, though each figure remains an average rather than an individual aid package.
At Keene State College, the published cost of attendance is $29,993, but aid recipients face different average net prices across family-income bands. The average net price is $12,192 in the lowest-income band, $12,536 in the lower-middle-income band, $16,045 in the middle-income band, $18,004 in the upper-middle-income band, and $22,928 in the highest-income band.
The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $10,736, and Azimuth ranks the university #772 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 40% of the published cost, or average savings of $12,106.
Across all aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $17,887. This sits $3,819 above the peer median net price of $14,068, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).
The aid-adjusted price remains higher than the comparable-institution midpoint. Federal borrowing is common: 97.0% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.
For borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $25,749; that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $293 a month if repaid over ten years. The median is $4,520 above the peer median debt of $21,229 at comparable institutions (same type and size).
Median Parent PLUS borrowing is $37,874.
Student loans: what does repayment look like?
Federal loans are part of the financing picture for 97.0% of federal aid recipients at Keene State College. Completers who borrowed had median federal student loan debt of $25,749.
Comparable institutions (same type and size) have a peer median debt, the middle value, of $21,229. The college’s median is $4,520 above that benchmark.
For a separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS debt is $37,874. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the college reported 81% of graduates borrowed from any source, with average cumulative debt of $43,877 per borrower.
The reported figures include 79% of graduates with federal loans, averaging $23,750. They also include 35% of graduates with private loans, averaging $45,590.
The federal median and peer comparison both point to higher borrowing than the comparable-college benchmark.
The investment picture at Keene State College is mixed: earnings sit below what expects, while debt runs above the peer median. Four years after completion, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $58,191, at the 44th percentile nationally.
Graduates earn about $8,033 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome at the 25th percentile. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $46,926 in a downside case to $78,750 in an upside case, with $58,191 as the typical scenario.
Borrowers who finish carry a median of $25,749 in federal student loans, $4,520 above the $21,229 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $293 a month.
Parent borrowers have median Parent PLUS borrowing of $37,874, a figure separate from federal student borrowing. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $293 a month if repaid over ten years.
Repayment figures are in the Financial GPS card below. Borrowing populations and model assumptions.
Parent loans: what can the family afford?
How Parent PLUS borrowing affects families
- Median Parent PLUS debt
- $37,874
- Estimated parent payment
- $481/mo
| Household income | Share of income above basic expenses | Risk level |
|---|---|---|
| $35,000 | No room | High pressure |
| $50,000 | No room | High pressure |
| $75,000 | 28.4% | High pressure |
| $100,000 | 12.7% | High pressure |
| $150,000 | 6.1% | Caution |
| $200,000 | 4.0% | Safe |
The 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS balance, as a share of household income above basic expenses ($54,640 a year: 200% of the 2026 federal poverty guideline for a household of three). No room is High pressure. Open the parent tool for your own numbers. Read the assumptions and limits.
Student and parent loans: the monthly payments
Financial GPS
What does repayment look like?
- Institution median student debt
- $25,749
- Institution Parent PLUS debt
- $37,874
Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.
- Estimated student payment · monthly
- $293/mo
- Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
- $481/mo
- Modeled student + parent payments
- $774/mo
Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.
Student payment as a share of available income
At median graduate earnings of $58,191, with a $23,940 annual allowance for basic expenses:
10.3% of income above the allowance · Good
- Excellent Under 8%
- Good 8–under 12% · selected scenario
- Concerning 12–20%
- High risk Over 20%
How this estimate works
These are modeled earnings scenarios, not observed earnings percentiles. Annual student payments ÷ (earnings − basic-expense allowance). The starting allowance, $23,940, uses the published framework’s 2026 baseline; it is not a current local living-cost estimate. Change it for your budget, including taxes and other obligations. This combines school-level figures for illustration, not a typical individual’s budget or an official school rating. Parent PLUS is separate.
Payment assumptions
Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.
Net price and borrowing. The 2023–24 income-band averages include living costs and cover eligible first-time, full-time aid recipients; public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. They are not individual aid offers. Peer matching supplies overall net prices, not matched income-band averages. College Scorecard data and documentation.
A personal student-risk assessment also needs your major and borrowing plan; these school-level illustrations do not assign you a personal risk zone.
Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates. Private-loan figures from the Common Data Set are separate from these federal repayment illustrations.