How does Baylor financial aid work for incoming freshmen?

For incoming freshmen at Baylor, your aid package can include several different pieces that stack together.

Need-based aid is based on your family’s financial situation, usually using the FAFSA and sometimes the CSS Profile or other school forms Baylor requests. This can include federal Pell Grants, state aid if you qualify, Baylor grant aid, federal student loans, and work-study.

Merit scholarships are different. Those are based on your academic profile, and sometimes other factors, not on financial need.

Grants and scholarships are the best types of aid because they do not have to be repaid. Loans do have to be repaid, usually after you leave school or drop below half-time enrollment. Work-study is not money credited automatically to your bill. It gives you eligibility to earn money through a campus job, and you receive that pay over time as you work.

A typical Baylor package might look like this: a merit scholarship, a Baylor grant if you show need, a federal Pell Grant if eligible, a federal direct student loan, and possibly work-study. Baylor then applies those forms of aid toward your cost of attendance, which includes tuition, housing, food, fees, books, and personal expenses.

The key thing to watch is your net cost, not just the total aid number. Some packages can look large because they include loans and work-study, but those do not reduce your bill in the same way as grants and scholarships.