Tacoma, WA · Private · 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 University of Puget Sound
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
In this range the College Grant for a Washington family of four falls from $6,476 a year at a private college to $648 (2026-27). A family near the top of the range gets less aid than this average.
Four years here, after grants
$132,213
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $7,000.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for University of Puget Sound, $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 University of Puget Sound
| Full price | $90,711 |
| After grants, at your income | $27,464 |
98% of first-year students here got a grant or scholarship from the college in 2023-24, $33,520 on average.
At this income, 12 of Washington's other 18 colleges cost less after grants, and 6 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Washington's College Grant. For a Washington family: up to $6,476 a year here, against $13,203 at UW (2026-27). A family from another state gets none.
Merit scholarships. Up to $45,000 a year, set on the whole application.
University of Puget Sound's promise. Sound Scholars Program. The conditions ↓
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At University of Puget Sound, our scenarios for Washington households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $6,600 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 University of Puget Sound says it awards for grades and test scores.
Up to $45,000 a year, set on the whole application
“All incoming undergraduates are considered for the Trustee, President, Provost, Dean, and Faculty scholarships, which are valued up to $45,000 per year. Awards are made based on the student's overall admission application, including academic performance in high school or college. No separate scholarship application is required. Academic Scholarship award amounts stay constant year over year, assuming eligibility criteria is met.”
What Washington's grants pay at University of Puget Sound
If your family lives in Washington, two state grants can help pay for University of Puget Sound: the Washington College Grant and College Bound. The state has cut both at private colleges.
The Washington College Grant
For 2026-27, the largest grant at a private college is $6,476 a year. At the University of Washington it is $13,203. The grant gets smaller as income rises, and a family of four earning more than $139,500 gets none.
| A family of four earning up to | At University of Puget Sound | At the University of Washington |
|---|---|---|
| $83,500 | $6,476 | $13,203 |
| $90,500 | $3,885 | $7,922 |
| $97,500 | $3,238 | $6,602 |
| $104,500 | $1,587 | $3,235 |
| $139,500 | $648 | $1,320 |
The largest grant a year, from the Washington Student Achievement Council's 2026-27 table. A larger family can earn more and still qualify, and the council lists every family size up to 20.
From 2026-27, state law sets the largest grant at a private college at “50 percent of the average of awards for the same academic year granted to students at the public research institutions in Washington.”
The prices after grants on this page are University of Puget Sound's 2025-26 figures, from before the cut. In 2025-26 the largest grant at a private college was $9,739, so a family that gets the full grant now gets $3,263 a year less.
College Bound
Through 2026-27, College Bound at a private college pays at least the average award at the state's public research universities. From 2027-28 it pays half that average:
“Beginning in the 2027-28 academic year, for students attending private four-year not-for-profit institutions of higher education in Washington, the award amount shall be 50 percent of the average of awards for the same academic year granted to students in public research universities in Washington.”
A student starting in fall 2027 gets the smaller amount in every year.
Sources: the council's grant amounts, the colleges that take part, who qualifies for College Bound, and the laws, RCW 28B.92.030 and RCW 28B.118.010.
Programs worth asking about
University of Puget Sound describes this in words that stop short of a promise, so we show it in its own words. Ask the aid office whether you qualify.
Sound Scholars Program
- For students in Tacoma's public schools.
“We’re committed to ensuring that students in Tacoma’s public schools have the opportunity to pursue education after high school. Students in the district who work hard, graduate from high school can be eligible to attend Puget Sound with their full financial need met.”
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 University of Puget Sound reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price.
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 $6,600 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in University of Puget Sound's own scenarios. Each scenario is a household that lives in Washington, with an income from $45,000 to $200,000 and savings of none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price University of Puget Sound 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.
Why the dates matter
Washington sets your grant from the income on the FAFSA, which uses your tax return from two years before college starts.
Source: Washington Student Achievement Council
“For the 2026-27 FAFSA or WASFA, use the household income reported on your 2024 taxes.”
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.
Grants from the college
How many first-year students got a grant from University of Puget Sound, and the average, are the Department of Education's figures for full-time students who started in 2023-24. They cover every income. The prices after grants already count these grants, so don't take them off again. The Department of Education's page for University of Puget Sound →
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: University of Puget Sound's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing, food and books, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 4.0% a year. 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 average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
University of Puget Sound's own budget for 2026-27 is $90,766. It also counts costs the university doesn't bill for, such as travel and personal spending. We leave those out.
SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by University of Puget Sound. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- Walla Walla University$25,683 a year
- Whitworth University$25,785 a year
- University of Puget Sound$27,464 a year
- Evergreen State College$28,761 a year
- Whitman College$29,266 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every Washington college →