Out of Pocket Pay at Northwestern College

Out of Pocket Pay at Northwestern College

In this research project, we observe several factors that affect how much families pay out of pocket for their students to attend Northwestern College. In addition, we compare this to the amount of institutional aid students expect to receive upon enrollment. We run multiple regression models to see if a student’s first semester major affects how much money they are paying out of pocket, or if this is affected by a type of scholarship they receive. These scholarships include athletic scholarships, music scholarships, theater scholarships, and the Pell Grant. We show that the only grouping of majors to pay a significant amount less out of pocket are those within natural sciences. We also explore reasonings as to why natural science majors are paying less money out of pocket by looking at their academic standing and financial based scholarships. Based on our findings, we believe that natural science majors are more likely to pay less money than other majors due to their academic standings, leading them to receive greater scholarships.