by our College Data Analytics TeamMost students are not billed the full sticker price of a school. Rather, they are offered a financial aid plan that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The total price of attendance at Whittier College can feel overwhelming, but bear in mind that many students receive some sort of financial aid.
What financing options does Whittier offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Read on to find out just how much financial aid will be open to you.
The amount of financial aid you can receive varies from person to person and will depend on your family’s economic situation. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from Whittier College.
Financial assistance, available as scholarships, loans, and work-study, is a way schools lower the price of attendance so many students can enroll. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
For incoming first-year students at Whittier College, 100% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid around 143 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 99% | $36,176 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 98% | $30,850 |
| Federal Pell grants | 36% | $5,894 |
| State/local grants | 37% | $8,463 |
| Federal student loans | 61% | $5,234 |
Gift aid — grants and scholarships — beats loans every time because none of it has to be repaid. Here, about 93% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $32,501 (among about 757 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 93% | $32,501 |
| Federal Pell grants | 34% | $5,471 |
| Federal student loans | 54% | $6,635 |
Among title-IV aid recipients living on campus, grant and scholarship aid averaged $37,907.
Because need-based aid scales with family income, what students actually pay differs sharply across income brackets.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $25,888 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $29,209 |
| Over $75,000 | $32,426 |
These figures reflect what title-IV aid recipients pay after grant and scholarship aid is applied.
The net price strips out grant and scholarship aid from the sticker price to show roughly what families really pay.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $25,757 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $29,871 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Whittier’s NPC: www.whittier.edu/financialaid/npc.
The median student at Whittier graduates with $18,125 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $18,125 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $24,937 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $264.37/mo |
The 10-year payment estimate assumes a standard federal repayment plan and the median graduate debt amount.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. Use the percentiles below to see the debt range at Whittier.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $4,998 |
| 25th percentile | $8,053 |
| 75th percentile | $27,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $31,000 |
The figures below break down median federal debt by income tier, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $18,000 |
| Middle income | $18,767 |
| High income | $17,750 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $18,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,125 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $17,998 |
| Independent students | $20,000 |
The Department of Education computes summary indicators that describe debt outcomes at a glance. Whittier.
Stafford loans make up the bulk of federal direct lending to undergraduates. The totals below capture Stafford lending at Whittier:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 9733 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $298,728,823 |
Military-affiliated students can tap the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 0 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $0 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.