U.S. Students

View our current tuition rates. Your tuition and expenses may be adjusted according to your financial need. For more information, please contact a staff member in the Office of Student Accounts.

No. Transfer students follow the same guidelines as all first-year U.S. candidates.

Because state funds are limited, filing late may affect your eligibility for such assistance. However, you may still be eligible for federal funds.

Your application cannot be reviewed until all materials required and requested have been received.

Your Student Aid Index is an estimate of how much of your educational expenses you and/or your family are expected to absorb. Your family contribution is not a prediction of how much cash you have on hand; neither is it a value judgment about how much your family ought to have available from their current income, or a measure of your liquidity. Rather, it is an estimate of your capacity over time to absorb some of the cost of education.

The SAI generally expects a strong financial commitment on your part proportional to your income. We estimate how much you can be expected to contribute (relative to other students), but we make no assumptions about how you will finance that contribution.

Consumer debt, such as car loans and credit card bills and educational debt does not have any bearing on your financial aid award. 

Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, federal student aid calculations no longer count other family members in college. There is no special discount for multiple siblings attending Clark University. Parents in college are not counted as family members enrolled in college.

Yes, all students are eligible to work on campus. Available jobs are listed on Handshake, Clark’s online job posting board. Over the summer, incoming students will receive information regarding the student employment process and how to access Handshake.

An award of federal work-study does not require you to work nor is it a guarantee of employment. The award is a limit of your potential earnings.  Earnings are not deducted from the bill, student employee’s are paid their earnings via direct deposit every two weeks.

Any student employee needs to meet the federal I-9 requirements for employment. Original documents, not copies, need to be presented with the completed employment packet for certification.  Please review the I-9 requirements and bring the original documentation with you to campus so we can complete the federal certification requirement.

If you are having difficulty finding employment on campus, you should visit the office of Financial Assistance for guidance.

Unless you notify us otherwise, your financial aid award at Clark is based on the assumption that you will not receive aid from non-Clark sources. If you do receive such assistance, we may revise our offer of financial aid.

Clark University’s policy for these adjustments is as follows:

• Your financial aid award at Clark is based on the assumption that you will not receive aid from non-Clark sources, unless otherwise reported. If you do receive outside scholarships from outside resources, we may revise our offer of financial aid.  Clark University’s policy for these adjustments is as follows: for scholarships based on the student’s merit, outside funds may first fill unmet need as calculated by Clark University. Any remaining outside funds will go first to reduce the student’s self-help aid -work-study then loans-; any remaining outside funds will then reduce Clark grant dollar-for-dollar. Scholarships that are not meritorious like federal or state grants will reduce the Clark University Grant dollar-for-dollar. Tuition subsidies based on parent’s employment, reduce Clark University Grant $.50 per dollar after the first five thousand dollars. Copies of all Scholarship awards need to be provided to both the Financial Assistance and Student Accounts Office as soon as you are notified of the award, to provide you the best possible information  about how these awards can impact your financial aid award and bill. Clark reserves the right to make adjustments at any point during the semester.

If you take part in a Clark study abroad program, you will receive your usual aid package, with the exception of federal work-study. If you study in a non-Clark program you will receive only your federal Stafford Loan and federal Pell Grant, if applicable.

Unless you have indicated that you are living at home with your parents and commuting to Clark, your financial aid award is based upon the premise that you are incurring living expenses such as room and board on campus or rent and groceries off campus.

Therefore, whether you are living in an on-campus residence hall or an off-campus apartment and you are or are not participating in the meal plan, your aid will remain the same.

Students are limited to eight semesters of Clark-sponsored, need-based financial aid and merit scholarship awards.

If you expect to take more than eight semesters to complete your undergraduate degree, you may be eligible aid during a ninth semester upon appeal. Please contact the Office of Financial Assistance for more information.

Clark offers families the option of fixing the tuition rate for four years at the first-year level. To do this, families pay four years of tuition the first year, thereby “locking” into the first year’s tuition rate. Arrangements can be made by contacting the Director of Student Accounts at 1-508-421-3801.

Students receiving  financial aid should remain in good academic standing and are required to make “satisfactory academic progress” (SAP) toward their degree. 

SAP is defined by regulations of the U.S. Department of Education as “proceeding in a positive manner toward fulfilling degree requirements.”

Evaluation of Satisfactory Academic Progress is made following each semester (including summer). Students are notified in writing regarding their SAP status when they are not meeting the requirements.  

Students who do not meet SAP requirements are no longer eligible for financial assistance through either federal, state, or institutional funds. Additionally, a private educational loan cannot be certified if satisfactory progress is a requirement for certification.  

1. Qualitative Standard: Grade Point Average (GPA)

• Students must maintain the following minimum cumulative grade point average:
• Undergraduate Students: 2.0 cumulative GPA
• Graduate Students: 3.0 cumulative GPA
• Note: Grades of A, B, C, D, and F are calculated in this GPA.

2. Quantitative Standard: Pace of Completion

Students must successfully complete a minimum of 67% of all cumulative attempted credit hours to ensure graduation within the maximum time frame. [1, 2]

• Calculation: Cumulative Earned Hours / Cumulative Attempted Hours must be at least 67%
• Attempted hours include all courses with grades of W (withdrawal), I (incomplete), F (failure), and repeated courses. 
• Transfer units accepted and counted toward a Clark University degree are counted in the number of units attempted and earned.  

3. Maximum Time Frame

Students must complete their degree or certificate program within 150% of the published length of the program. For example, a 120-credit bachelor’s degree must be completed within 180 attempted credits.

4. Evaluation Outcomes and Statuses

• The school reviews academic records at the end of each term and assigns one of the following statuses:
• Good Standing: The student meets all SAP requirements.
• SAP Warning: The student fails to meet SAP for the first time. The student remains eligible for financial aid for one term but must correct all deficiencies by the end of this probationary term. 
• Financial Aid Suspension: The student fails to meet SAP requirements after a warning term (or fails multiple consecutive terms). Financial aid is immediately suspended.

5. The Appeal Process

Students placed on Financial Aid Suspension may appeal in writing if extenuating circumstances (e.g., severe illness, death in the family) prevented academic success. 

Is not eligible for financial assistance until they meet SAP requirements.

Appeals must explain what occurred and how circumstances have changed to allow academic success.

If approved, the student is placed on Financial Aid Probation and must adhere to an approved Academic Plan to regain eligibility. 

If it is determined that a student needs more than one semester to meet the requirements, they may be placed on financial aid probation with an academic plan and will remain eligible to receive financial assistance. The academic plan must be developed by the student and their academic adviser.  

In both instances, financial aid probation or financial aid probation with an academic plan, the student’s academic record will be reviewed at the end of the subsequent semester. This review will determine if the student: 

Meets SAP requirements (for students with probation but no academic plan) 

Meets SAP requirements and can continue to receive financial assistance for another semester based on the academic plan in place 

Needs to submit a new academic plan