Net Price by Family Income

The short answer

In 2025–26, a first-year Wesconsin resident living on campus faced a full cost of attendance of $24,042. After grants and scholarships, students who received federal aid paid an average of $11,340. Students from families earning $30,000 or less paid about $6,800; students from families earning more than $110,000 paid about $19,700. Those averages are the same ones shown on cost of attendance. This page adds the counts and the explanation.

Average net price by family income, 2025–26

First-time, full-time Wesconsin residents living on campus who received federal (Title IV) aid in 2025–26: 930 students. Income is the family’s adjusted gross income from the FAFSA.

The full cost of $24,042 is the 2025–26 resident on-campus figure: tuition $9,140, segregated fees $1,382, a double room $5,720, the standard meal plan $4,130, and $3,670 in estimated books, transportation, personal costs and loan fees. In 2026–27 the same figure is $24,330; the Regents held tuition flat, so the $288 increase is fees, housing and meals.

How to read the table

• Net price is not your bill. It counts costs Porter does not charge you, like books and travel, and it does not subtract loans or work-study, which you repay or earn. See cost of attendance, explained.
• Averages hide a range. In the $48,001–$75,000 band, the middle half of students paid between about $9,800 and $14,900, depending on family size, assets and how many family members were in college.
• The lowest band gets most of its aid from outside Porter. Pell Grants and the state grant cover most of the $17,242; Porter’s own scholarships make up the rest.
• Above $75,000, merit scholarships do most of the work. Few families in the top two bands qualify for need-based grants, so their aid comes from the scholarship application, which is due February 1.
• Not included: students who did not file the FAFSA, non-residents and Midwest Student Exchange students, transfers and off-campus students. In 2026–27 non-residents pay $8,740 more in tuition than residents, and aid offsets only part of that difference.

After the first year

Net price usually rises a little after the first year. Some first-year awards are one-time, and costs go up about 3 percent a year (see the four-year projection on cost of attendance). What keeps it down:

1. File the FAFSA every year, as early as you can.
2. Know your scholarship’s renewal GPA. Most Porter awards give one term of warning before pausing.
3. Take 15 credits a term. Tuition is flat from 12 to 18 credits, so a fifth year is the most expensive year.
4. Choose a paid co-op where your field offers one.

The broader case for weighing price against outcomes is on net price and return on investment.

Get your own number

The net price calculator asks about income, assets and household size and estimates your grants in about ten minutes, before you apply. The calculator uses the same aid rules as the real offer, so most families land within about $1,500 of what they are eventually offered. If your family’s situation has changed since the tax year the FAFSA uses, because of a job loss, a divorce or medical bills, ask Financial Aid about a professional-judgment review. In 2025–26, 214 families requested one, and most received a revised offer. Financial Aid Director Mervin Aaby’s office answers questions by phone, email or a booked appointment in MyPorter.