It’s not uncommon for students to take out loans to pay for college. But higher education doesn’t have to mean going into high debt.
Whittier College invests in affordability with more than $60 million in scholarships and merit awards granted to students admitted for fall 2023. More than 85% of Whittier students receive some type of aid from the College, which can be critical to their decision to enroll.
“It definitely was a huge factor, because college is expensive,” said first-year student Amelie Tapia, a sociology major. “It wasn't the only school I was accepted to, but they weren't offering as good of financial aid packages as Whittier did.”
Tapia received the John Greenleaf Whittier Scholarship, Theatre Scholarship — a subset of the school's Talent Scholarship — Gateway Scholarship, and a Pell Grant.
For the 2022-23 academic year, the average out-of-pocket tuition cost per Poet was about $20,00 per year, in contrast with the $48,924 price tag of tuition alone. Financial aid is often a combination of federal funding, work-study, state scholarships and other grants.
Whittier College consistently earns top marks on affordability, ranked as a 2024 Best Value School and a Top Performer on Social Mobility (tied for No. 8 nationally) by U.S. News & World Report.
The largest scholarship Whittier awards is the John Greenleaf Whittier Scholarship. Honoring the College and town’s namesake, all admitted first-year and transfer students are automatically considered for this scholarship. John Greenleaf Whittier Scholarships range from $20,000 to $36,000 per year and are renewable annually if the recipient maintains full-time enrollment and good academic standing.
First-year student Calvin Morgenstern, a John Greenleaf Whittier Scholarship recipient, said financial aid played an important role in his ability to attend Whittier.
“If I didn't get a good enough scholarship, I might not have been able to attend college,” he said.
Morgenstern also receives the Gateway Scholarship, Cal Grant, Pell Grant, and Theatre Scholarship, paying less than $1,000 a year out of pocket.
Auditioning for and then receiving the Theatre Scholarship turned out to be instrumental for Morgenstern’s academic future.
“I was able to go in declared as a theatre major,” Morgenstern said. “Before, I might not have been too sure of it as a career path.”
The Talent Scholarship was recently renamed the Creative Arts Scholarship for incoming students. It has expanded its eligibility criteria by adding new disciplines this fall: writing and film.
Visit Whittier.edu/FinancialAid for more information.
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