Financial Planning

The ECU Net Price Calculator is an online tool that will give you an estimate of typical expenses for a student to attend ECU as well as an estimate of financial aid. Estimates are based on the information that you enter. The estimate provided does not represent a final determination, or actual award, of financial aid assistance, or a final net price; it is an estimate based on price of attendance and financial aid provided to students in a previous year.

You can also view our institutional profile at College Raptor or our College Navigator profile through the National Center for Education Statistics.

ECU’s 2024-25 Undergraduate Financial Aid Worksheet (PDF) and Graduate Financial Aid Worksheet (PDF) are tools provided to assist you in estimating your bill (ECU’s COA minus grants, scholarships, loans, etc.) each semester.

ECU’s What you Need to Know information sheet, when used in combination with the above worksheets, provides a concise overview on a variety of items, from Cost of Attendance, Satisfactory Academic Progress, Grants, Loans and Federal Work Study.

The College Preparation Checklists are a series of “to do” lists starting with elementary school, to help students prepare academically and financially for education beyond high school.

For an overview of applying for aid and understanding your comprehensive award letter, view the 2020 Pirates Aboard Admitted Student Day Financial Aid presentation, or you can view our April 2023 AVID Priesentation.

Financial Literacy

ECU has partnered with CashCourse, a free and unbiased education program that helps students obtain their college degree in a financially responsible way.  CashCourse provides free online financial education courses, customizable financial tools, a personal dashboard to track your progress, and more.

College Foundation: Financial Literacy provides interactive materials, videos, and games designed to help high school and college students make responsible choices in managing their finances.

College Foundation: Education Loan Debt Management provides guidance on loan repayment, consolidation, and default prevention.

College Foundation: Student Financial Aid for North Carolinians (PDF) is a booklet that contains a wide range of grants, scholarships, and loan opportunities to North Carolina residents.

Cohort Default Rate

Our cohort default rate is published on the College Navigator website and is updated annually when the new cohort default rate is published.  ECU’s cohort default rate has been consistently below the national average for public universities.  When public universities were at 7.0% we were at 5.1%.  In 2019,  the post pandemic CDR dropped to the national CDR of 2.3%, ECU is at 1.7%.