Students can avail of scholarships provided by the university, such as North Carolina Student Incentive Grant and Triangle Scholarship Program, if they find educational expenses to be on the higher side. As many as 85% of the students at WCU get some sort of financial aid, and the total amount of assistance/loans provided is more than $33,772,715 in a year. The total percentage of candidates applying to Western Carolina University who receive the Federal Grant is 39%. Meanwhile, 68% of the applicants receive the Student Grant and 63% are awarded the Institution Grant, while 38% of the students get the Pell Grant. While the Federal Grant awardees receive an average aid of $4,667, the State Grant receivers and Institution Grant beneficiaries get $1,537 and $2,134, respectively. And, for the Pell Grant awardees, the average aid amount is $4,499. The annual family income of a candidate is one of the key factors in determining their total eligibility for financial aid. Alternatively, the candidates can also avail of monetary benefits like student loans, apart from financial grants and scholarship schemes to pay for their studies. However, student loans attract a certain rate of interest at which the funds are borrowed. While grants and scholarship schemes do not require repayment, student loans should be repaid by the applicants within a given period. At Western Carolina University, the percentage of candidates who opt to avail of student loans is around 64%.