Whitman College · Washington

Whitman College scholarships and merit aid

Whitman rewards driven, passionate students with merit awards that reflect the college's liberal arts values.

Verified Jul 20261 month ago

The short answer

Is Whitman College worth a closer look?

Whitman College is worth checking if your student has strong grades or scores. We found 5 published awards, and 2 are based on those numbers.

Merit tiers52 based on grades or scores

First-year students with school awards37%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025 (school-estimated)

Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Free Merit Check

See what Whitman College's published rules mean for your student. Takes 30 seconds.

Checking merit aid at Whitman College

Unweighted GPA

Test score

State

HS graduation year

We’ll email you this result and a few short merit-aid pointers. We store score ranges only, never your student’s name. Unsubscribe anytime. See our privacy policy.

Published scholarships

These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.

Amount not published

Garrett Sherwood Scholarships

Based on grades or scores

Source

Up to $35,000

Whitman Merit Scholarships

Based on grades or scoresCan continue

Source

Amount not published

Sinaata Scholarship

Apply separately

Source

Amount not published

Garrett Sherwood

Apply separately

Source

Amount not published

Outdoor Recreation Scholarship

Apply separately

Source

See what could change an award

Straight from the aid office

What Whitman College's aid office says

Per the Office of Financial Aid, Whitman College, August 2026. How we verify

Basis for merit scholarship award

What is the merit scholarship based on and when is it awarded?

Merit scholarships are awarded at the time of admission, based on high school transcripts.

“Merit scholarships in general are awarded at the time if admission, based on high school transcripts”

Scholarship renewal requirement

What is required to keep the merit scholarship for all four years?

As long as students are making progress toward their degree, the scholarship renews for all 4 years.

“as long as students are making progress toward their degree, the scholarship renews for all 4 years.”

GPA minimum for scholarship renewal

Is there a minimum GPA required to keep the merit scholarship?

There is no GPA minimum for the merit scholarship.

“there is no GPA minimum.”

Outside scholarships and stacking

How do outside scholarships interact with Whitman's scholarship aid?

Outside scholarships are added on top of Whitman's scholarship aid, unless the total exceeds the cost of attendance.

“Outside scholarships are stacked on top of any scholarship aid provided by Whitman, unless the it exceeds the cost of attendance.”

Early Financial Aid Guarantee Program

Is there a way to know financial aid costs before applying?

Through the Early Financial Aid Guarantee (EFG) Program, a student can be guaranteed a financial aid award before even applying.

“Through the Early Financial Aid Guarantee (EFG) Program, you would be guaranteed a financial aid award, before you even apply.”

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

If you have a clear passion—whether in the arts, sciences, or humanities—and thrive in close-knit academic communities, Whitman's merit scholarships are worth a close look.

Published yearly cost: Approximately $86,620 for 2026-2027. Source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Whitman College, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at Whitman College, academic year 2021-22
Family income	Average net price paid
$0–$30,000	$13,567
$30,001–$48,000	$11,596
$48,001–$75,000	$21,915
$75,001–$110,000	$27,237
$110,001+	$47,679
All income levels (average)	$33,313

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23: $64,050
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22: $33,313

That works out to roughly a 57% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $78,092 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort: 81%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort: 87%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers: $18,437 (~$195/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21): $67,589
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22: 23%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22: 67%

How to read these numbers

Net price reflects only first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who received federal Title IV financial aid — not Whitman College's full student body.
Published tuition is the catalog sticker price for all students, not a Title IV-only figure.
Graduation rate reflects the entire first-time, full-time, degree-seeking cohort — not only students who received Title IV aid.
Retention rate reflects all first-time, full-time, bachelor's-seeking students — not only Title IV aid recipients.
Median debt reflects only completers who took out federal student loans — not Whitman College's full graduating class, and not limited to first-time, full-time students.
Median earnings reflect Title IV aid recipients who entered college and were working (not enrolled) roughly a decade later — not necessarily the graduating cohort, and not a recent graduate's paycheck.
Pell grant and federal loan participation covers first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students only.
Net price blends need-based aid and merit aid together — it is not a merit-specific estimate. It shows what similar-income families actually paid on average after every kind of aid, not what a strong-stats student could win in merit dollars alone. Treat it as cost context, not a merit forecast — a MeritPlaybook models merit aid specifically for your student’s own stats, which this net-price figure cannot do.

None of this is current-year data — the U.S. Department of Education reports it on a delay, and different figures below come from different reporting years. Net price is an academic year 2021-22 figure. Published tuition reflects the 2022-23 academic year. Graduation rate reflects the Fall 2016 entering, full-time, first-time, degree/certificate-seeking cohort; completion measured within 150% of normal time (~6 years for a bachelor's degree). IPEDS Graduation Rates component (C150_4). Retention reflects the Fall 2021 full-time, first-time, bachelor's-seeking cohort retained into the following fall. IPEDS Fall Enrollment component (RET_FT4). Median debt reflects the NSLDS FY2020 and FY2021 pooled completer cohorts (GRAD_DEBT_MDN, GRAD_DEBT_MDN10YR_SUPP). Median earnings reflect the Treasury-matched cohort entering college in AY2009-10 or AY2010-11, earnings measured 10 years later in calendar years 2020 and 2021, inflation-adjusted to 2022 dollars (MD_EARN_WNE_P10).

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard.

See other scholarships and cost examples

More school data

From the Whitman College Common Data Set 2024-2025 (school-estimated figures):

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From Whitman College’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.

37%of admitsget merit

Average award$21,981Covers ~25% of $86,620 cost of attendance

At Whitman College, roughly 1 in 3 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $21,981 — about 25% of total cost.

As filed in Whitman College's CDS Section H2A: of 390 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen, 143 had no financial need and received institutional merit (non-need) scholarship or grant aid, averaging $21,981. Across all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates: 566 of 1,508, averaging $19,323. Athletic awards are excluded per the CDS definition.

The 2024-2025 column is marked "estimated" in the school's own CDS filing — school-projected figures, not final audited counts.

Receive institutional merit37%First-year students, Common Data Set 2024-2025 (school-estimated)

Average merit award$21,981Across recipients, Common Data Set 2024-2025 (school-estimated)

Source: Common Data Set 2024-2025 (verified 2026-07-23)

Other Whitman College scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

Music Talent Scholarship

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityThe Music Talent Scholarship is a Talent & Passion Scholarship for students with demonstrated excellence in music.

Source

Fine Arts Talent Scholarship

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityThe Fine Arts Talent Scholarship is a Talent & Passion Scholarship for students with demonstrated excellence in fine arts.

Source

Theater Dance Talent Scholarship

AmountAmount not publishedEligibilityThe Theater & Dance Talent Scholarship is a Talent & Passion Scholarship for students with demonstrated excellence in theater and dance.

Source

See sources and other schools

How Whitman College compares

665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Whitman College is one of them. The cohort minority (84 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.

Sources used on this page

Every claim is checked against Whitman College’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Cost of attendanceWhitman College cost-of-attendance worksheet
Merit tiersGarrett Sherwood Scholarships
Merit tiersSinaata Scholarship

Compare with similar schools

Puget Sound merit aid. Washington private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
Whitworth merit aid. Washington private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
EWU merit aid. Washington public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
Gonzaga merit aid. Washington private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.