Graduate Costs & Aid

Aligning Aspirations with Budgets

Fall 2024 Payment Deadline has passed.

Click Here for the Payments Information Page

Apply

How to Apply for Graduate Aid

2024/2025 FAFSA UPdates

Find out about FAFSA updates for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Graduate Scholarships

Find out about Naropa Graduate Scholarships.

Financial Aid available to Graduate students, per year

Naropa offers scholarships and graduate assistantships. More than 75% of our graduate students receive some form of federal or institutional aid.

Scholarships
Naropa Fellowships : up to $29,000 Presidential Scholarship: up to $500 per semester Honor Scholarship: up to $1,500 per semester Other Scholarships: up to $25,000 Outside Scholarships: monies awarded by non-Naropa sources Graduate Scholarships Page Fellowships may not be available for all programs

Employment Opportunities
Graduate Assistantships: a form of employment with the University, awards ranging from $4,238 – $8,476. Federal Work Study: Need based employment on campus or with approved community partners. To be considered, please email finaid@naropa.edu. Naropa Student Employment: Non-need based student employment on campus. To be considered, please email finaid@naropa.edu

Student Loans
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans: up to $20,500 PLUS Loan: Federal credit-based loan available to cover the gap between aid and cost of attendance Aid may available up to your cost of attendance (tuition & fees plus humble living expenses)

Graduate Program Costs

Important Information for All Programs

Graduate students may borrow up to $20,500/year in Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans.
Graduate students may be able to borrow a Federal Grad PLUS loan up to the total Cost of Attendance minus all other aid awarded (must credit qualify).
Students may set up a Payment Plan to pay their tuition bill.
Many students work part-time off and on campus. For available employment opportunities at Naropa University, visit the Graduate Assistantships webpage or submit a request for Student Employment to the financial aid office at finaid@naropa.edu.
Students who previously participated in Americorps programs may be able to apply their education award voucher to their tuition bill. Also, students enrolled in degree programs requiring internships may be able to earn credit toward an Americorps education award.

Costs per Program for 2024/2025

Graduate Aid Resources

BROWSE GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIPS

Graduate Assistantships are a form of employment with the university. Graduate students selected for a GA position will receive a scholarship that is applied directly to their tuition bill, as well as a stipend, which is paid monthly to the student. GA’s are not need-based; however, students must fill out an aid application.

How to Apply

Students are required to apply for GA positions through Naropa’s online employment application (to be announced soon).
A link to Naropa’s online employment application is included in each GA position description.
Be sure to attach any required documents to your online application (i.e. resume).
Students will be notified if they have been selected for a GA position.

Requirements

Students can apply for an assistantship if they haven’t been accepted into Naropa; however, students must be accepted before we can offer them a GA award.
Students must be enrolled in at least six credit hours (all credits must count towards minimum number of credits needed to graduate) during any semester they may hold a GA position.
Returning students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5.
All students must submit an aid application (FAFSA for US citizens and eligible non-citizens, International Student Aid application for non-US citizens).

Additional Information

Receiving more than one institutional form of aid (including a GA) could affect your eligibility for, or the amounts of, other forms of aid, including scholarship awards.
If you are awarded a GA and you have already requested the maximum in the Grad PLUS Loan, we will need to reduce the Grad PLUS loan to make room for the GA award.
Student employees using GA funds, work-study, or Naropa student employment cannot work more than 20 hours a week, even while holding more than one position.

COMPLETE THE NEW HIRE PROCESS

Human Resources will email New Hire paperwork to the student.
Students who are selected for an assistantship must complete Naropa’s new hire process before they can begin working in their position.
We cannot apply your GA awards to your account until the new hire process is complete.
Students who are hired within two years of their last date of employment (i.e. work-study or a GA position) do not need to complete new hire paperwork.

GA Scholarships & Pay

Students who are selected for a GA position will receive a GA scholarship that will be applied directly to their tuition bill, as well as hourly pay. GA award amounts are based on the number of required hours of work each week.

For the 2024-2025 academic year, the award amounts are as follows:

10 hours: $20 an hour, $3,000 in scholarship
7.5 hours: $20 an hour, $2,250 in scholarship
5 hours: $20 an hour, $1,500 in scholarship

There are two federal student loans available to graduate students to assist in paying their educational expenses.

Direct Unsubsidized Loan

Lending Limit: $20,500 per academic year
Interest Rates change each academic year*
Loan accrues interest while a student is in school
Origination Fee adjusts for each calendar year.
Grace Period: 6 months
This means that once a student has stopped attending at at least 6 credit hours, they have 6 months before they are required to begin repaying their loans.

Graduate PLUS Loan

Students must credit-qualify for the PLUS Loan
Lending Limit: Awarded up to a student’s estimated cost of attendance minus other forms of aid a student has been awarded
Interest Rates change each academic year*
Loan accrues interest while a student is in school
Origination Fee adjusts for each calendar year.

*Interest rates and origination fees change yearly based on auction of Treasury bill in spring

Review more information regarding Federal Student Loans.

Review federal student loan borrowing history

Students can review information regarding their federal grants and federal student loans, including borrowing history, through the Federal Student Aid Website.

Work-Study

While graduate students are not typically awarded federal work-study, they may email finaid@naropa.edu to request an award of work-study eligibility, and indicate a dollar amount that they would like to be awarded. The Grad PLUS loan will be reduced by the amount awarded in work-study eligibility. Students can work 5 to 20 hours per week. Students are paid twice per month. Earnings are paid to the student and are subject to taxation. Students must demonstrate financial need to be eligible for work-study. Receiving a work-study award is not a guarantee of employment.

The Resident Assistant position does not require students demonstrate financial need. This position requires a student live in University Housing for which a full housing scholarship is given. This is a 20-hour-per-week position in which students are paid twice per month. Please note that receiving more than one institutional form of aid (including the RA position) could affect your eligibility for, or the amounts of, other forms of aid, including scholarship awards. If you are awarded an RA position and you have already requested the maximum in the Grad/Parent PLUS Loan, we will need to reduce the Grad/Parent PLUS Loan to make room for the RA position payment and housing scholarship. If the application is open, it can be found via the work-study positions link below.

View and apply for work-study positions

Community Work-Study

Naropa employs a small percentage of students at the following nonprofit organizations in the Boulder area through the community work-study program:

Boulder Day Nursery

Community work-study is a great opportunity to be of service to the community and work with children and adults in tutoring, counseling, and teaching. You must be eligible for work-study and be a United States citizen to hold a work-study job at a community work-study site.

View and apply for community work-study jobs

How to Apply for a Community Work-Study Job

Contact the site/organization directly to inquire about available jobs and the application process
If the site selects you for a position, students must also complete Naropa’s employment application and new hire process:
- Background check release and authorization
- New hire paperwork
Once you’ve completed the above listed forms, take them to Human Resources along with your work authorization documents noted on the third page of the I-9 Form
Common forms of identification include passport, driver’s license, and social security card or birth certificate. These documents need to be presented to Human Resources within 3 business days of your first day of work
- Human Resources is located at 1630 N 63rd St, Boulder, CO 80301
- Phone: 303-245-4700
- humanresources@naropa.edu
If the site/organization selects you for a position and you have successfully completed Naropa’s new hire process, Student Financial Services will contact your site supervisor to confirm you can start working in your position

Naropa Student Employment (NSEP)

Naropa Student Employment is a form of employment with the University. NSEP is a university-funded form of financial aid that allows international students to work on-campus and earn a semi-monthly paycheck. Student employment earnings are not applied to a student’s tuition bill. NSEP is awarded to international students who demonstrate high financial need. Receiving an NSEP award is not a guarantee of employment. Open Naropa Student Employment positions are posted on Naropa’s employment webpage.

Can I use Veterans’ Benefits at Naropa?

Naropa University is approved by the Colorado Office of Veterans Education and Training (COVET) for Veterans Education Benefits. Students can use their VA education benefits for approved degree programs.

Individuals with questions about their eligibility for VA benefits in general, please review the VA website or contact your local Veterans’ Administration branch.

Naropa Student Veterans Benefits

Yellow Ribbon Program

What is Yellow Ribbon?

Yellow Ribbon is an agreement between the Department of Veteran Affairs and the school, which helps cover required out of pocket tuition and fee costs that exceed the annual Chapter 33 cap.

Is Naropa eligible?

Yes, Naropa participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program. Naropa University’s agreement allows for a matching grant up to $10,000 for 100 eligible students in a given year (50 graduate/50 undergraduate).

What students are eligible?

Students who are eligible for Chapter 33 benefits (Post 9/11) at the 100% rate

Note: At this time, you’re not eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program if you’re an active-duty service member or a spouse using the transferred benefits of an active-duty service member.

Starting on August 1, 2022, you may become eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program if you’re currently an active-duty service member who qualifies at the 100% level (you already served on active duty for at least 36 months) or if you’re a spouse using the transferred benefits of an active-duty service member who meets these qualifications.

Have Questions?

Schedule an appointment with a VA school Certifying Official

or email us at vabenefits@naropa.edu

Other Details

Please review our Payment Options page.

Tuition is due Monday of the week before classes start. Failure to pay by the deadline or to adhere to a payment plan agreement could result in late fees, interest charges and even disenrollment. While the student risks disenrollment for non-payment, it is still the student’s responsibility to drop classes if the student has no intention of attending.

Once you register for courses, you can view your tuition bill by accessing the Student Finance section of Self-Service.

A student’s cost of attendance includes direct costs paid to the university (i.e. tuition & fees), as well as estimated indirect costs a student will incur, which are not included in their tuition bill (i.e. books & supplies).

The cost of attendance is determined using guidelines established by the Colorado Commission of Higher Education and assumes that students are limiting expenses by sharing housing, utilizing public transportation, etc.

Indirect expenses are about $2,498/month. The following demonstrates expected indirect expenses associated with attending school full-time for 9 months (living off campus).

Housing and Food	$14,680
Transportation	$990
Books, Course Materials, Supplies & Equipment	$1,256
Personal & Misc.	$4,762
Loan Fees	$796
Total Indirect Costs	$22,484

You can review our Policies page for any additional information you may need.