Rochester Hills, MI · Public · Every figure is for a student starting in fall 2027. We work each one out again whenever we update the site.
How to pay for Oakland University
What a year costs here, what brings it down, and what a SmartTuition plan could save a family like yours.
Paying for four years here
Four years here, after grants
$84,380
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $2,700.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Oakland University, $99 →Best once your award letter arrives. No letter yet? Get the monthly email.
A family of four with good credit and $500 a month for college. How we worked these out ↓
A year at Oakland University
| Full price, in state | $30,824 |
| Full price, out of state | $37,661 |
| After grants, at your income | $19,680 |
At this income, 15 of Michigan's other 30 colleges cost less after grants, and 15 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. Oakland’s academic merit awards run from $2,000 to $12,000 a year, set by high school GPA and test score. A student can receive only one.
Oakland University's promise. Golden Guarantee: free tuition for first-time Michigan residents who receive the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, with a family income of $70,000 or less and assets under $50,000. The conditions ↓
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At Oakland University, our scenarios for Michigan households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $5,800 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
Considering more than one college?
Put the schools you are considering on one list and we price each of them for your family. It is free. It asks what you earn and what you have saved, never your name.
Put your schools side by side →Merit scholarships
What Oakland University says it awards for grades and test scores.
Oakland’s academic merit awards run from $2,000 to $12,000 a year, set by high school GPA and test score. A student can receive only one.
Published guarantees you may qualify for
We do not assume you qualify for any of these, and our plans never bank on them. Check each against your own situation with the aid office.
Golden Guarantee: free tuition for first-time Michigan residents who receive the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, with a family income of $70,000 or less and assets under $50,000
Household income up to $70,000. Covers tuition.
- For a first-time college student who is a Michigan resident and gets the Michigan Achievement Scholarship. The student applies to Oakland by July 1 and completes the FAFSA, and Oakland says in the financial aid offer whether the student qualifies.
“Requirements First-time college students, who are Michigan residents, and recipients of the Michigan Achievement Scholarship Family income of less than or equal to $70,000, and assets less than $50,000, as determined by the FAFSA”
How we worked these out
The family
A family of four with good parent credit and $500 a month to put toward college, and the savings you pick. In state, the grants are what Oakland University reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price. Out of state, there are no grants: the price is before any scholarship from the college.
What a SmartTuition plan saves
The difference, over four years, between a SmartTuition plan and the standard approach: savings first, then loans for the rest. It counts loan interest and the federal tax credit.
The $5,800 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Oakland University's own scenarios. Each scenario is a household that lives in Michigan, with an income from $45,000 to $200,000 and savings of none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price Oakland University at the aid it reports for that income.
Every scenario has parents with good credit and $500 a month toward college. The card above uses the same two. A scenario where the parents would borrow more than $65,000 is left out.
The prices by income
- They describe students who got aid.
- “Over $110,000” has no upper limit, so it averages families just over $110,000 with far wealthier ones. A family at $115,000 should expect to pay less than it shows.
- Each range is reported on its own, so the prices do not always rise with income.
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Oakland University's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing and food, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 3.0% a year. Books are the College Scorecard's. The grants are the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (2025-26 figures), carried forward the same way. Each price after grants is the cost less those grants. The out-of-state figure uses the published out-of-state tuition instead. The average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Oakland University. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- Aquinas College$19,159 a year
- Madonna University$19,184 a year
- Oakland University$19,680 a year
- Calvin University$19,742 a year
- University of Detroit Mercy$19,824 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every Michigan college →