Whitman College
Private College in Walla Walla, WA. Six-year graduation rate 81%. Median 10-year earnings $67,589.
A decade after enrolling, the median Whitman College student earns $67,589 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. The six-year graduation rate of 81% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $18,437 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.27 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 81% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
At 38%, the acceptance rate makes Whitman College a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 7,243 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 14%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 9% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 670–740 | 35 (9%) |
| SAT Math | 640–740 | |
| ACT Composite | 29–33 | 29 (7%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Whitman College →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 81% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. 87% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. Transfer-out runs to 12% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 10:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,523 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $37,633 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. The income table below is the number that matters — $13,567 at $0–30k versus $47,679 at $110k+. Most students get help: 92% receive grants worth $37,864 on average. Federal borrowing reaches 54% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 444 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $13,567 |
| $30–48k | $11,596 |
| $48–75k | $21,915 |
| $75–110k | $27,237 |
| $110k+ | $47,679 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 827 of these 1,523 students, totalling $4,735,049 — an average of $5,726 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Walla Walla County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)